Antibodies against interleukin-1 β

ABSTRACT

Antibodies directed to the antigen IL-1β and uses of such antibodies are described. In particular, fully human monoclonal antibodies directed to the antigen IL-1β. Nucleotide sequences encoding, and amino acid sequences comprising, heavy and light chain immunoglobulin molecules, particularly sequences corresponding to contiguous heavy and light chain sequences spanning the framework regions and/or complementarity determining regions (CDR&#39;s), specifically from FR1 through FR4 or CDR1 through CDR3. Hybridomas or other cell lines expressing such immunoglobulin molecules and monoclonal antibodies.

This Application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/335,907, filed Jan. 19, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,772, whichclaims the benefit to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/647,643,filed Jan. 26, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.60/753,800, filed Dec. 22, 2005, which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The invention relates to targeted binding agents, such as monoclonalantibodies and fragments thereof, with binding affinity forinterleukin-1β (IL-1β) and uses of such antibodies. More specifically,the invention relates to fully human monoclonal antibodies directed toIL-1β and uses of these antibodies.

BACKGROUND

The normal immune system is under a balance in which proinflammatory andanti-inflammatory cells and molecules are carefully regulated to promotenormal host immune defense without the destruction of host's tissues.Once this careful regulatory balance is disturbed, nonspecificstimulation and activation can lead to increased amounts of potentdestructive immunological and inflammatory molecules being produced andreleased. Thus, excess production of proinflammatory cytokines orproduction of cytokines in the wrong biological context, are associatedwith morbidity and mortality in a wide range of diseases.

Cytokines are pluripotent polypeptides that act by binding to specificcellular receptors. Their secretion is important in determining theduration and intensity of an immune response. Cytokines have pleiotropiceffects and mediate a number of symptoms associated with inflammation.

IL-1β is involved in a wide variety of biological pathways, and is apotent molecule, able to induce its effects by triggering as few as oneor two receptors per cell. As a signaling agent, IL-1β is effective atvery low concentrations, even in the femtomolar range. IL-1β was firstnoted for inducing fever, augmenting lymphocyte responses, andstimulating the acute-phase response. IL-1β has a known role in inducintan inflammatory reaction in response to infection.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention relate to targeted binding agents thatspecifically bind to interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and neutralize IL-1βactivity. In one embodiment of the invention, the targeted binding agentis a fully human antibody, or binding fragment thereof, that neutralizesinterleukin-1β (IL-1β) activity. In one aspect, the fully human antibodyor binding fragment neutralizes interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and binds toIL-1β with a K_(D) of 400 pM, 100 pM, 10 pM, 1 pM, 500 fM, 300 fM, 200fM, 50 fm or less. In some embodiments, the antibody has an IgG2isotype, while in other embodiments the antibody is an IgG4 isotype. Insome embodiments, the antibody is isotype switched from one isotype toanother. In some embodiments, the antibody is in association with apharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent.

In some embodiments, the antibody binds to a particular epitope ofIL-1β, such as amino acids 1-34 of the N terminal domain. In otherembodiments, the targeted binding agent binds to IL-1β in part via anarginine at the fourth amino acid of the mature IL-1β polypeptide. Insome embodiments, the targeted binding agent binds to IL-1β in part viaan arginine at the eleventh amino acid of the mature IL-1β polypeptide.

In some embodiments, the targeted binding agent is an antibody whichcomprises a heavy chain amino acid sequence having a complementaritydetermining region (CDR) with the same sequence as a CDR of SEQ ID NO:74. In some embodiments, the antibody further comprises a light chainamino acid sequence having a CDR with the same sequence as a CDR of SEQID NO: 76. In some embodiments, the antibody comprises a light chainpolypeptide having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 76. In some embodiments,the antibody comprises a heavy chain polypeptide having the sequence ofSEQ ID NO: 74. In some embodiments, the antibody is antibody 5.5.1. Inother embodiments, the antibody is antibody 9.5.2.

Another embodiment of the invention is an antibody that competes forbinding with any of the antibodies described above.

Still another embodiment is an isolated polynucleotide that encodes aheavy chain variable domain of an antibody, wherein the heavy chainvariable domain comprises a complementarity determining region from theamino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 74. Another embodiment is an isolatedpolynucleotide that encodes a light chain variable domain of anantibody, wherein the light chain variable domain comprises acomplementarity determining region from the amino acid sequence of SEQID NO: 76. In some embodiments, the invention includes a vectorcomprising a polynucleotide described above. In other embodiments, theinvention includes a host cell comprising one of the above describedvectors.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of effectively treating ananimal suffering from an IL-1β related disorder, the method comprising:selecting an animal in need of treatment for an IL-1β related disorder;and administering to the animal a therapeutically effective dose of atargeted binding agent that neutralizes the biological activity ofIL-1β. In some embodiments, the treatable IL-1β related disorder isselected from the group consisting of inflammatory disorders, cachexiaand chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, painrelated disorders, congestive heart failure, leukemias, multiplemyelomas, tumor growth and metastatic spreading. In some embodiments ofthe above described method, the targeted binding agent comprises aneutralizing fully human monoclonal antibody that binds to amino acids1-34 of the N-terminal domain of IL-1β.

Yet another embodiment of the invention is a method of effectivelytreating an animal suffering from an IL-1β related disorder. The methodincludes selecting an animal in need of treatment for an IL-1β relateddisorder, and administering to the animal a therapeutically effectivedose of a neutralizing fully human monoclonal antibody that binds tointerleukin-1β (IL-1β) with a K_(D) of 200 fm or less. In someembodiments, the treatable IL-1β related disorder is an inflammatorydisorder such as cachexia and chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis,atherosclerosis, pain related disorders, congestive heart failure,leukemia, multiple myeloma, tumor growth or metastatic spreading.

Still another embodiment of the invention is a polynucleotide thatencodes a polypeptide from at least one chain of a fully humanmonoclonal antibody that binds to interleukin-1β (IL-1β) with a K_(D) of200 fM or less. In some embodiments, the polynucleotide encodes theheavy chain of the monoclonal antibody, and the nucleotide sequence hasthe sequence of SEQ ID NO: 73. In some embodiments, the polynucleotideencodes the light chain of the monoclonal antibody, and the nucleotidesequence has the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 75. In some embodiment, theinvention includes a vector comprising a polynucleotide described above.In other embodiments, the invention includes a host cell comprising oneof the above described vectors.

Yet another embodiment includes methods for treating diseases orconditions associated with the expression of IL-1β in a patient, byadministering to the patient an effective amount of an anti-IL-1βantibody in combination with additional antibodies or chemotherapeuticdrug or radiation therapy. For example, a monoclonal, oligoclonal orpolyclonal mixture of IL-1β antibodies that block inflammation can beadministered in combination with a drug shown to inhibit inflammationdirectly. The method can be performed in vivo and the patient ispreferably a human patient. In a preferred embodiment, the methodconcerns the treatment of inflammatory disorders such as cachexia andchronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a bar graph displaying the percent of IL-6 production inducedby IL-1β (4 pM) in MRC-5 cells in the presence of various amounts of thegiven antibodies.

FIG. 1B is a bar graph displaying the percent of IL-6 production inducedby IL-1β (4 pM) in MRC-5 cells in the presence of various amounts of thegiven antibodies.

FIG. 1C is a bar graph displaying the percent of IL-6 production inducedby IL-1β (4 pM) in MRC-5 cells in the presence of various amounts of thegiven antibodies.

FIG. 1D is a bar graph displaying the percent of IL-6 production inducedby IL-1β (4 pM) in MRC-5 cells in the presence of various amounts of thegiven antibodies.

FIG. 2A is a graph depicting the percent inhibition of IL-1β-inducedIL-6 production in MRC-5 cells for various antibodies.

FIG. 2B is a graph depicting the percent inhibition of IL1β-induced IL-6production in MRC-5 cells for various antibodies.

FIG. 3 is a graph depicting the percent inhibition of IL1β-induced IL-8production in human whole blood for various antibodies.

FIG. 4 is a graph depicting the percent inhibition of IL-6 productionfor Ab 9.5.2, Ab 5.5.1, and anakinra (KINERET™) in vivo. Upwardtriangles represent 9.5.2 IgG4, and downward triangles represent 5.5.1IgG4.

FIG. 5 is a structural model depicting the interaction of IL-1 beta witha receptor.

FIG. 6 is a structural model depicting the areas of antibody 9.5.2 andantibody 5.5.1 interaction with IL-1 beta.

FIG. 7 is a graph depicting myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the lungsof BALB/C mice treated with either IL-1β alone or in combination withmAb 9.5.2 or an isotype control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a majorrole in a wide range of diseases, including inflammatory diseases.Disclosed are targeted binding agents, such as monoclonal antibodies,that bind to and neutralize the activity of IL-1β. In one embodiment,the targeted binding agent is a fully human monoclonal antibody thatspecifically binds to IL-1β. In some embodiments the antibodies bind toIL-1β with a particularly high affinity. In some embodiments theantibodies are highly potent, either in vitro, in vivo, or under bothsituations. In some embodiments, treatment with such antibodies canresult in inhibition of IL-6 production and/or IL-8 production in vitro,in vivo, or under both situations.

In some embodiments, the disclosed antibodies are more potent, moreselective, have a longer half-life, or some combination thereof, thanrecombinant IL-1 receptor antagonists (IL-1Ra) or anakinra (e.g.,KINERET™). This can be advantageous as the therapeutic efficacy ofanakinra may be limited by its biological and pharmacokineticproperties. For instance, anakinra prevents the binding of IL-1 to itsreceptor via a mechanism of receptor antagonism. In order for anakinrato be effective, it has to compete with IL-1 at the level of allreceptors, which are ubiquitous and numerous. Moreover, anakinra has ashort circulating half-life (4-6 hours) in humans.

As described in detail below, a panel of fully human IL-1β monoclonalantibodies (mAbs) was generated and examined. One example of such anantibody is termed herein “9.5.2”. Antibody 9.5.2 is a high-affinity(K_(D)=204 fM for IgG2 and 181 fM for IgG4) IgG2λ mAb that binds toN-terminal residues 1-34 of the IL-1β molecule. Antibody 9.5.2 potentlyneutralizes IL-1β dependent effects in vitro and in vivo. 9.5.2 mAbinhibits IL-1β-induced IL-6 production by MRC-5 cells and IL-8production in whole blood. In mice, 9.5.2 mAb inhibited IL-1β-inducedIL-6 and MPO production. The 9.5.2 mAb had in vitro and in vivopotencies superior to anakinra. This established that blockade of IL-1βwith a mAb is a valid neutralizing approach that can be useful in thetreatment of inflammatory diseases.

A further embodiment of the invention is an antibody that cross-competesfor binding to IL-1β with the fully human antibodies of the invention,preferably an antibody comprising a heavy chain amino acid sequencehaving one of the CDR sequences shown in Table 25 and a light chainamino acid sequence having one of the CDR sequences shown in Table 26. Afurther embodiment of the invention is an antibody that binds to thesame epitope on IL-1β as a fully human antibodies of the invention,preferably an antibody comprising a heavy chain amino acid sequencehaving one of the CDR sequences shown in Table 25 and a light chainamino acid sequence having one of the CDR sequences shown in Table 26.

Further embodiments, features, and the like regarding IL-1β antibodiesare provided in detail below.

Sequence Listing

Embodiments of the invention include the specific IL-1β antibodieslisted below in Table 1. This table reports the identification number(“mAb ID No.”) of each IL-1β antibody, along with the SEQ ID number ofthe corresponding heavy chain and light chain for the nucleic acid andamino acid sequences. The mAb ID No. is used to identify the variousantibodies. When mAb ID Nos. begin with the same first two sets ofnumbers (e.g., 9.5.2 and 9.5) this denotes that the antibodies areclones and are thus identical. The complete sequences can be found inthe sequence listing and a comparison of the sequences can be found inTable 25 and Table 26.

TABLE 1 mAb SEQ ID ID No.: Sequence NO: 4.20.1 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 1 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 2 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 3 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 4 5.36.1 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 5 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 6 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 7 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 8 5.5.1Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 9Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 10Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 11Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 126.20.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the heavychain 13 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the heavychain 14 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the lightchain 15 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the lightchain 16 6.26.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of theheavy chain 17 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of theheavy chain 18 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of thelight chain 19 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of thelight chain 20 6.33.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable regionof the heavy chain 21 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable regionof the heavy chain 22 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable regionof the light chain 23 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable regionof the light chain 24 6.34.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variableregion of the heavy chain 25 Amino acid sequence encoding the variableregion of the heavy chain 26 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variableregion of the light chain 27 Amino acid sequence encoding the variableregion of the light chain 28 6.7.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding thevariable region of the heavy chain 29 Amino acid sequence encoding thevariable region of the heavy chain 30 Nucleotide sequence encoding thevariable region of the light chain 31 Amino acid sequence encoding thevariable region of the light chain 32 8.18.1 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 33 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 34 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 35 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 36 8.50.1 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 37 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 38 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 39 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 40 8.59.1Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 41Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 42Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 43Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 448.6.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the heavychain 45 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the heavychain 46 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the lightchain 47 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the lightchain 48 9.11.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of theheavy chain 49 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of theheavy chain 50 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of thelight chain 51 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of thelight chain 52 9.19.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable regionof the heavy chain 53 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable regionof the heavy chain 54 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable regionof the light chain 55 Amino acid sequence encoding the variable regionof the light chain 56 9.26.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variableregion of the heavy chain 57 Amino acid sequence encoding the variableregion of the heavy chain 58 Nucleotide sequence encoding the variableregion of the light chain 59 Amino acid sequence encoding the variableregion of the light chain 60 9.2.1 Nucleotide sequence encoding thevariable region of the heavy chain 61 Amino acid sequence encoding thevariable region of the heavy chain 62 Nucleotide sequence encoding thevariable region of the light chain 63 Amino acid sequence encoding thevariable region of the light chain 64 9.31.1 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 65 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the heavy chain 66 Nucleotide sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 67 Amino acid sequenceencoding the variable region of the light chain 68 9.54.1 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 69 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 70 Nucleotidesequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 71 Amino acidsequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 72 9.5.2Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 73Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the heavy chain 74Nucleotide sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 75Amino acid sequence encoding the variable region of the light chain 76Definitions

Unless otherwise defined, scientific and technical terms used hereinshall have the meanings that are commonly understood by those ofordinary skill in the art. Further, unless otherwise required bycontext, singular terms shall include pluralities and plural terms shallinclude the singular. Generally, nomenclatures utilized in connectionwith, and techniques of, cell and tissue culture, molecular biology, andprotein and oligo- or polynucleotide chemistry and hybridizationdescribed herein are those well known and commonly used in the art.

Standard techniques are used for recombinant DNA, oligonucleotidesynthesis, and tissue culture and transformation (e.g., electroporation,lipofection). Enzymatic reactions and purification techniques areperformed according to manufacturer's specifications or as commonlyaccomplished in the art or as described herein. The foregoing techniquesand procedures are generally performed according to conventional methodswell known in the art and as described in various general and morespecific references that are cited and discussed throughout the presentspecification. See e.g., Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning: A LaboratoryManual (3rd ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y. (2001)), which is incorporated herein by reference. Thenomenclatures utilized in connection with, and the laboratory proceduresand techniques of, analytical chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry,and medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry described herein are thosewell known and commonly used in the art. Standard techniques are usedfor chemical syntheses, chemical analyses, pharmaceutical preparation,formulation, and delivery, and treatment of patients.

As utilized in accordance with the present disclosure, the followingterms, unless otherwise indicated, shall be understood to have thefollowing meanings:

The terms “IL-1B,” “IL-1b,” “IL-1β,” “IL-1Beta,” “IL-1β,” and similarsuch terms refer to the molecule interleukin-1β. In some embodiments,included in this definition are precursors of IL-1β, such as pro-IL-1β.An example of a mature form of IL-1B is shown in SEQ ID NO: 77. An “IL-1beta antibody” is an antibody that binds to IL-1 beta. This can also bereferred to as an anti-IL-1 beta, or, somewhat redundantly, an anti-IL-1beta antibody. These antibodies can also be referred to with their “mAbID No,” shown above in Table 1. Thus, “mAb 9.5.2,” “9.5.2,” or “9.5.2mAb,” where appropriate, refer to the antibody. Antibodies can be namedwith either numerals separated by periods or numerals separated bydashes, nothing is implied by this difference.

The term “neutralizing” when referring to an antibody relates to theability of an antibody to eliminate, or significantly reduce, theactivity of a target antigen. Accordingly, a “neutralizing” IL-1βantibody is capable of eliminating or significantly reducing theactivity of IL-1β. A neutralizing IL-1β antibody may, for example, actby blocking the binding of IL-1β to a type I IL-1 receptor (“IL-1R”). Byblocking this binding, the IL-1β mediated signal transduction issignificantly, or completely, eliminated. Ideally, a neutralizingantibody against IL-1β inhibits IL-1β related disorders. In anotherembodiment, the neutralizing antibody prevents the IL-1β molecule frombinding to the type II IL-1 receptor. The type II receptor is also knownas a decoy receptor. Thus, a neutralizing antibody that prevents IL-1βfrom binding to the type II receptor, but still allows IL-1β to bind tothe type I receptor would result in an effective increase in IL-1βactivity. Unless denoted otherwise, the IL-1 receptor shall refer to thetype I receptor. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, theantibody can be neutralizing for any and all functions of the protein.Thus, for example, an IL-1β antibody may alter the production of IL-6,IL-8, or both. Antibodies can have differing levels of potency fordifferent assays. Contemplated potencies include any effective potency,for example, IC₅₀s of less than 14 nM to 1 nM, 1 nM to 500 pM, 500 pM to1 pM for IL-6 inhibition; less than 2.3 nM to 100 pM, 100 pM to 70 pM,or 70 to 4 pM for IL-8 inhibition; and less than 51-8, 8-5, or 5pmoles/mouse for in vivo IL-6 production.

The term “isolated polynucleotide” as used herein shall mean apolynucleotide that has been isolated from its naturally occurringenvironment. Such polynucleotides may be genomic, cDNA, or synthetic.Isolated polynucleotides preferably are not associated with all or aportion of the polynucleotides they associate with in nature. Theisolated polynucleotides may be operably linked to anotherpolynucleotide to which it is not linked in nature. In addition,isolated polynucleotides preferably do not occur in nature as part of alarger sequence.

The term “isolated protein” referred to herein means a protein that hasbeen isolated from its naturally occurring environment. Such proteinsmay be derived from genomic DNA, cDNA, recombinant DNA, recombinant RNA,or synthetic origin or some combination thereof, which by virtue of itsorigin, or source of derivation, the “isolated protein” (1) is notassociated with proteins found in nature, (2) is free of other proteinsfrom the same source, e.g. free of murine proteins, (3) is expressed bya cell from a different species, or (4) does not occur in nature.

The term “polypeptide” is used herein as a generic term to refer tonative protein, fragments, or analogs of a polypeptide sequence. Hence,native protein, fragments, and analogs are species of the polypeptidegenus. Preferred polypeptides in accordance with the invention comprisethe human heavy chain immunoglobulin molecules and the human kappa lightchain immunoglobulin molecules, the human heavy chain immunoglobulinmolecules and the human lambda light chain immunoglobulin molecules, aswell as antibody molecules formed by combinations comprising the heavychain immunoglobulin molecules with light chain immunoglobulinmolecules, such as the kappa or lambda light chain immunoglobulinmolecules, and vice versa, as well as fragments and analogs thereof.Preferred polypeptides in accordance with the invention may alsocomprise solely the human heavy chain immunoglobulin molecules orfragments thereof.

The term “naturally-occurring” as used herein as applied to an objectrefers to the fact that an object can be found in nature. For example, apolypeptide or polynucleotide sequence that is present in an organism(including viruses) that can be isolated from a source in nature andwhich has not been intentionally modified by man in the laboratory orotherwise is naturally-occurring.

The term “operably linked” as used herein refers to positions ofcomponents so described that are in a relationship permitting them tofunction in their intended manner. For example, a control sequence“operably linked” to a coding sequence is connected in such a way thatexpression of the coding sequence is achieved under conditionscompatible with the control sequences.

The term “control sequence” as used herein refers to polynucleotidesequences that are necessary either to effect or to affect theexpression and processing of coding sequences to which they areconnected. The nature of such control sequences differs depending uponthe host organism; in prokaryotes, such control sequences generallyinclude promoter, ribosomal binding site, and transcription terminationsequence; in eukaryotes, generally, such control sequences may includepromoters, introns and transcription termination sequence. The term“control sequences” is intended to include, at a minimum, all componentswhose presence is essential for expression and processing, and can alsoinclude additional components whose presence is advantageous, forexample, leader sequences and fusion partner sequences.

The term “polynucleotide” as referred to herein means a polymeric formof nucleotides of at least 10 bases in length, either ribonucleotides ordeoxynucleotides or a modified form of either type of nucleotide. Theterm includes single- and double-stranded forms of DNA.

The term “oligonucleotide” referred to herein includes naturallyoccurring, and modified nucleotides linked together by naturallyoccurring, and non-naturally occurring linkages. Oligonucleotides are apolynucleotide subset generally comprising a length of 200 bases orfewer. Preferably, oligonucleotides are 10 to 60 bases in length andmost preferably 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 to 40 bases inlength. Oligonucleotides are usually single stranded, e.g. for probes;although oligonucleotides may be double stranded, e.g. for use in theconstruction of a gene mutant. Oligonucleotides can be either sense orantisense oligonucleotides.

The term “naturally occurring nucleotides” referred to herein includesdeoxyribonucleotides and ribonucleotides. The term “modifiednucleotides” referred to herein includes nucleotides with modified orsubstituted sugar groups and the like. The term “oligonucleotidelinkages” referred to herein includes oligonucleotides linkages such asphosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate, phosphoroselenoate,phosphorodiselenoate, phosphoroanilothioate, phosphoraniladate,phosphoroamidate, and the like. See e.g., LaPlanche et al. Nucl. AcidsRes. 14:9081 (1986); Stec et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 106:6077 (1984);Stein et al. Nucl. Acids Res. 16:3209 (1988); Zon et al. Anti-CancerDrug Design 6:539 (1991); Zon et al. Oligonucleotides and Analogues: APractical Approach, pp. 87-108 (F. Eckstein, Ed., Oxford UniversityPress, Oxford England (1991)); Stec et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,510;Uhlmann and Peyman Chemical Reviews 90:543 (1990), the disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference. An oligonucleotide caninclude a label for detection, if desired.

The term “selectively hybridize” referred to herein means to detectablyand specifically bind. Polynucleotides, oligonucleotides and fragmentsthereof selectively hybridize to nucleic acid strands underhybridization and wash conditions that minimize appreciable amounts ofdetectable binding to nonspecific nucleic acids. High stringencyconditions can be used to achieve selective hybridization conditions asknown in the art and discussed herein. Generally, the nucleic acidsequence homology between the polynucleotides, oligonucleotides, orantibody fragments and a nucleic acid sequence of interest will be atleast 80%, and more typically with preferably increasing homologies ofat least 85%, 90%, 95%, 99%, and 100%.

Two amino acid sequences are “homologous” if there is a partial orcomplete identity between their sequences. For example, 85% homologymeans that 85% of the amino acids are identical when the two sequencesare aligned for maximum matching. Gaps (in either of the two sequencesbeing matched) are allowed in maximizing matching; gap lengths of 5 orless are preferred with 2 or less being more preferred. Alternativelyand preferably, two protein sequences (or polypeptide sequences derivedfrom them of at least about 30 amino acids in length) are homologous, asthis term is used herein, if they have an alignment score of, or morethan, 5 (in standard deviation units) using the program ALIGN with themutation data matrix and a gap penalty of 6 or greater. See Dayhoff, M.O., in Atlas of Protein Sequence and Structure, pp. 101-110 (Volume 5,National Biomedical Research Foundation (1972)) and Supplement 2 to thisvolume, pp. 1-10. The two sequences or parts thereof are more preferablyhomologous if their amino acids are greater than or equal to 50%identical when optimally aligned using the ALIGN program.

The term “corresponds to” is used herein to mean that a polynucleotidesequence is homologous (i.e., is identical, not strictly evolutionarilyrelated) to all or a portion of a reference polynucleotide sequence, orthat a polypeptide sequence is identical to a reference polypeptidesequence.

In contradistinction, the term “complementary to” is used herein to meanthat the complementary sequence is homologous to all or a portion of areference polynucleotide sequence. For illustration, the nucleotidesequence “TATAC” corresponds to a reference sequence “TATAC” and iscomplementary to a reference sequence “GTATA”.

The following terms are used to describe the sequence relationshipsbetween two or more polynucleotide or amino acid sequences: “referencesequence”, “comparison window”, “sequence identity”, “percentage ofsequence identity”, and “substantial identity”. A “reference sequence”is a defined sequence used as a basis for a sequence comparison. Areference sequence may be a subset of a larger sequence, for example, asa segment of a full-length cDNA or gene sequence given in a sequencelisting or may comprise a complete cDNA or gene sequence. Generally, areference sequence is at least 18 nucleotides or 6 amino acids inlength, frequently at least 24 nucleotides or 8 amino acids in length,and often at least 48 nucleotides or 16 amino acids in length. Since twopolynucleotides or amino acid sequences may each (1) comprise a sequence(i.e., a portion of the complete polynucleotide or amino acid sequence)that is similar between the two molecules, and (2) may further comprisea sequence that is divergent between the two polynucleotides or aminoacid sequences, sequence comparisons between two (or more) molecules aretypically performed by comparing sequences of the two molecules over a“comparison window” to identify and compare local regions of sequencesimilarity. A “comparison window”, as used herein, refers to aconceptual segment of at least about 18 contiguous nucleotide positionsor about 6 amino acids wherein the polynucleotide sequence or amino acidsequence is compared to a reference sequence of at least 18 contiguousnucleotides or 6 amino acid sequences and wherein the portion of thepolynucleotide sequence in the comparison window may include additions,deletions, substitutions, and the like (i.e., gaps) of 20 percent orless as compared to the reference sequence (which does not compriseadditions or deletions) for optimal alignment of the two sequences.Optimal alignment of sequences for aligning a comparison window may beconducted by the local homology algorithm of Smith and Waterman Adv.Appl. Math. 2:482 (1981), by the homology alignment algorithm ofNeedleman and Wunsch J. Mol. Biol. 48:443 (1970), by the search forsimilarity method of Pearson and Lipman Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA.)85:2444 (1988), by computerized implementations of these algorithms(GAP, BESTFIT, FASTA, and TFASTA in the Wisconsin Genetics SoftwarePackage Release 7.0, (Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science Dr., Madison,Wis.), GENEWORKS™, or MACVECTOR® software packages), or by inspection,and the best alignment (i.e., resulting in the highest percentage ofhomology over the comparison window) generated by the various methods isselected.

The term “sequence identity” means that two polynucleotide or amino acidsequences are identical (i.e., on a nucleotide-by-nucleotide orresidue-by-residue basis) over the comparison window. The term“percentage of sequence identity” is calculated by comparing twooptimally aligned sequences over the window of comparison, determiningthe number of positions at which the identical nucleic acid base (e.g.,A, T, C, G, U, or I) or amino acid residue occurs in both sequences toyield the number of matched positions, dividing the number of matchedpositions by the total number of positions in the comparison window(i.e., the window size), and multiplying the result by 100 to yield thepercentage of sequence identity. The terms “substantial identity” asused herein denotes a characteristic of a polynucleotide or amino acidsequence, wherein the polynucleotide or amino acid comprises a sequencethat has at least 85 percent sequence identity, preferably at least 90to 95 percent sequence identity, more preferably at least 99 percentsequence identity, as compared to a reference sequence over a comparisonwindow of at least 18 nucleotide (6 amino acid) positions, frequentlyover a window of at least 24-48 nucleotide (8-16 amino acid) positions,wherein the percentage of sequence identity is calculated by comparingthe reference sequence to the sequence which may include deletions oradditions which total 20 percent or less of the reference sequence overthe comparison window. The reference sequence may be a subset of alarger sequence.

As used herein, the twenty conventional amino acids and theirabbreviations follow conventional usage. See Immunology—A Synthesis(2^(nd) Edition, E. S. Golub and D. R. Gren, Eds., Sinauer Associates,Sunderland, Mass. (1991)), which is incorporated herein by reference.Stereoisomers (e.g., D-amino acids) of the twenty conventional aminoacids, unnatural amino acids such as α-, α-disubstituted amino acids,N-alkyl amino acids, lactic acid, and other unconventional amino acidsmay also be suitable components for polypeptides of the presentinvention. Examples of unconventional amino acids include:4-hydroxyproline, γ-carboxyglutamate, ε-N,N,N-trimethyllysine,ε-N-acetyllysine, O-phosphoserine, N-acetylserine, N-formylmethionine,3-methylhistidine, 5-hydroxylysine, σ-N-methylarginine, and othersimilar amino acids and imino acids (e.g., 4-hydroxyproline). In thepolypeptide notation used herein, the left-hand direction is the aminoterminal direction and the right-hand direction is the carboxy-terminaldirection, in accordance with standard usage and convention.Additionally, the short hand notation for amino acids and amino acidsubstitutions is also used. As such, “amino acid, amino acid position,amino acid” represents the wild-type amino acid, the position of thatamino acid, and the residue that the amino acid has been replaced with.Thus, A472Y means that the original alanine at position 472 has beenreplaced with a tryptophan.

Similarly, unless specified otherwise, the left-hand end ofsingle-stranded polynucleotide sequences is the 5′ end; the left-handdirection of double-stranded polynucleotide sequences is referred to asthe 5′ direction. The direction of 5′ to 3′ addition of nascent RNAtranscripts is referred to as the transcription direction; sequenceregions on the DNA strand having the same sequence as the RNA and whichare 5′ to the 5′ end of the RNA transcript are referred to as “upstreamsequences”; sequence regions on the DNA strand having the same sequenceas the RNA and which are 3′ to the 3′ end of the RNA transcript arereferred to as “downstream sequences”.

As applied to polypeptides, the term “substantial identity” means thattwo peptide sequences, when optimally aligned, such as by the programsGAP or BESTFIT using default gap weights, share at least 80 percentsequence identity, preferably at least 90 percent sequence identity,more preferably at least 95 percent sequence identity, and mostpreferably at least 99 percent sequence identity. Preferably, residuepositions that are not identical differ by conservative amino acidsubstitutions. Conservative amino acid substitutions refer to theinterchangeability of residues having similar side chains. For example,a group of amino acids having aliphatic side chains is glycine, alanine,valine, leucine, and isoleucine; a group of amino acids havingaliphatic-hydroxyl side chains is serine and threonine; a group of aminoacids having amide-containing side chains is asparagine and glutamine; agroup of amino acids having aromatic side chains is phenylalanine,tyrosine, and tryptophan; a group of amino acids having basic sidechains is lysine, arginine, and histidine; and a group of amino acidshaving sulfur-containing side chains is cysteine and methionine.Preferred conservative amino acids substitution groups are:valine-leucine-isoleucine, phenylalanine-tyrosine, lysine-arginine,alanine-valine, glutamic-aspartic, and asparagine-glutamine.

As discussed herein, minor variations in the amino acid sequences ofantibodies or immunoglobulin molecules are contemplated as beingencompassed by the present invention, providing that the variations inthe amino acid sequence maintain at least 75%, more preferably at least80%, 90%, 95%, and most preferably 99% sequence identity to theantibodies or immunoglobulin molecules described herein. In particular,conservative amino acid replacements are contemplated. Conservativereplacements are those that take place within a family of amino acidsthat have related side chains. Genetically encoded amino acids aregenerally divided into families: (1) acidic=aspartate, glutamate; (2)basic=lysine, arginine, histidine; (3) non-polar=alanine, valine,leucine, isoleucine, proline, phenylalanine, methionine, tryptophan; and(4) uncharged polar=glycine, asparagine, glutamine, cysteine, serine,threonine, tyrosine. More preferred families are: serine and threonine,which form an aliphatic-hydroxy family; asparagine and glutamine, whichform an amide-containing family; alanine, valine, leucine andisoleucine, which form an aliphatic family; and phenylalanine,tryptophan, and tyrosine, which form an aromatic family. For example, itis reasonable to expect that an isolated replacement of a leucine withan isoleucine or valine, an aspartate with a glutamate, a threonine witha serine, or a similar replacement of an amino acid with a structurallyrelated amino acid will not have a major effect on the binding functionor properties of the resulting molecule, especially if the replacementdoes not involve an amino acid within a framework site. Whether an aminoacid change results in a functional peptide can readily be determined byassaying the specific activity of the polypeptide derivative. Assays aredescribed in detail herein. Fragments or analogs of antibodies orimmunoglobulin molecules can be readily prepared by those of ordinaryskill in the art. Preferred amino- and carboxy-termini of fragments oranalogs occur near boundaries of functional domains. Structural andfunctional domains can be identified by comparison of the nucleotideand/or amino acid sequence data to public or proprietary sequencedatabases. Preferably, computerized comparison methods are used toidentify sequence motifs or predicted protein conformation domains thatoccur in other proteins of known structure and/or function. Methods toidentify protein sequences that fold into a known three-dimensionalstructure are known. Bowie et al. Science 253:164 (1991). Thus, theforegoing examples demonstrate that those of skill in the art canrecognize sequence motifs and structural conformations that may be usedto define structural and functional domains in accordance with theantibodies described herein.

Preferred amino acid substitutions are those which: (1) reducesusceptibility to proteolysis, (2) reduce susceptibility to oxidation,(3) alter binding affinity for forming protein complexes, (4) alterbinding affinities, and (4) confer or modify other physicochemical orfunctional properties of such analogs. Analogs can include variousmuteins of a sequence other than the naturally-occurring peptidesequence. For example, single or multiple amino acid substitutions(preferably conservative amino acid substitutions) may be made in thenaturally-occurring sequence (preferably in the portion of thepolypeptide outside the domain(s) forming intermolecular contacts. Aconservative amino acid substitution should not substantially change thestructural characteristics of the parent sequence (e.g., a replacementamino acid should not tend to break a helix that occurs in the parentsequence, or disrupt other types of secondary structure thatcharacterizes the parent sequence). Examples of art-recognizedpolypeptide secondary and tertiary structures are described in Proteins,Structures and Molecular Principles (Creighton, Ed., W.H. Freeman andCompany, New York (1984)); Introduction to Protein Structure (C. Brandenand J. Tooze, eds., Garland Publishing, New York, N.Y. (1991)); andThornton et at. Nature 354:105 (1991), which are each incorporatedherein by reference.

The term “polypeptide fragment” as used herein refers to a polypeptidethat has an amino-terminal and/or carboxy-terminal deletion, but wherethe remaining amino acid sequence is identical to the correspondingpositions in the naturally-occurring sequence deduced, for example, froma full-length cDNA sequence. Fragments typically are at least 5, 6, 8 or10 amino acids long, preferably at least 14 amino acids long, morepreferably at least 20 amino acids long, usually at least 50 amino acidslong, and even more preferably at least 70 amino acids long. The term“analog” as used herein refers to polypeptides which are comprised of asegment of at least 25 amino acids that has substantial identity to aportion of a deduced amino acid sequence and which has at least one ofthe following properties: (1) specific binding to a IL-1β, undersuitable binding conditions, (2) ability to block appropriate IL-1βbinding, or (3) ability to inhibit IL-1β activity. Typically,polypeptide analogs comprise a conservative amino acid substitution (oraddition or deletion) with respect to the naturally-occurring sequence.Analogs typically are at least 20 amino acids long, preferably at least50 amino acids long or longer, and can often be as long as a full-lengthnaturally-occurring polypeptide.

Peptide analogs are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry asnon-peptide drugs with properties analogous to those of the templatepeptide. These types of non-peptide compound are termed “peptidemimetics” or “peptidomimetics”. Fauchere, J. Adv. Drug Res. 15:29(1986); Veber and Freidinger TINS p. 392 (1985); and Evans et al. J.Med. Chem. 30:1229 (1987), which are incorporated herein by reference.Such compounds are often developed with the aid of computerizedmolecular modeling. Peptide mimetics that are structurally similar totherapeutically useful peptides may be used to produce an equivalenttherapeutic or prophylactic effect. Generally, peptidomimetics arestructurally similar to a paradigm polypeptide (i.e., a polypeptide thathas a biochemical property or pharmacological activity), such as humanantibody, but have one or more peptide linkages optionally replaced by alinkage selected from the group consisting of: —CH₂NH—, —CH₂S—,—CH₂—CH₂—, —CH═CH—(cis and trans), —COCH₂—, —CH(OH)CH₂—, and —CH₂SO—, bymethods well known in the art. Systematic substitution of one or moreamino acids of a consensus sequence with a D-amino acid of the same type(e.g., D-lysine in place of L-lysine) may be used to generate morestable peptides. In addition, constrained peptides comprising aconsensus sequence or a substantially identical consensus sequencevariation may be generated by methods known in the art (Rizo andGierasch Ann. Rev. Biochem. 61:387 (1992), incorporated herein byreference); for example, by adding internal cysteine residues capable offorming intramolecular disulfide bridges which cyclize the peptide.

As used herein, the term “antibody” refers to a polypeptide or group ofpolypeptides which are comprised of at least one binding domain, wherean antibody binding domain is formed from the folding of variabledomains of an antibody molecule to form three-dimensional binding spaceswith an internal surface shape and charge distribution complementary tothe features of an antigenic determinant of an antigen. An antibodytypically has a tetrameric form, comprising two identical pairs ofpolypeptide chains, each pair having one “light” and one “heavy” chain.The variable regions of each light/heavy chain pair form an antibodybinding site.

As used herein, the term “unit dose” refers to an amount of a substancesufficient to achieve a desired result in a particular subject. Thus,unit doses can vary depending upon the particular substance in the unitdose, who will be taking the substance, and what the desired result willbe.

As used herein, a “targeted binding agent” is an antibody, or bindingfragment thereof, that preferentially binds to a target site. In oneembodiment, the targeted binding agent is specific for only one targetsite. In other embodiments, the targeted binding agent is specific formore than one target site. In one embodiment, the targeted binding agentmay be a monoclonal antibody and the target site may be an epitope.

“Binding fragments” of an antibody are produced by recombinant DNAtechniques, or by enzymatic or chemical cleavage of intact antibodies.Binding fragments include Fab, Fab', F(ab')₂, Fv, and single-chainantibodies. An antibody other than a “bispecific” or “bifunctional”antibody is understood to have each of its binding sites identical. Anantibody substantially inhibits adhesion of a receptor to acounterreceptor when an excess of antibody reduces the quantity ofreceptor bound to counterreceptor by at least about 20%, 40%, 60% or80%, and more usually greater than about 85% (as measured in an in vitrocompetitive binding assay). A “complete” antibody refers to an antibodythat has all of the parts that make up an antibody, as defined by thedefinition of “antibody,” above. Of course, variants or insubstantialmodifications of the antibody can result in antibodies that are smallerthan the full antibody sequence.

The term “epitope” includes any protein determinant capable of specificbinding to an immunoglobulin or T-cell receptor. Epitopic determinantsusually consist of chemically active surface groupings of molecules suchas amino acids or sugar side chains and can, but not always, havespecific three-dimensional structural characteristics, as well asspecific charge characteristics. An antibody is said to bind an antigenwhen the dissociation constant (K_(D) or K_(d)) is less than or equal to1 μM, 100 nM, 10 nM, 1 nM, 100 pM, 10 pM, 1 pM, 100 nM, 10 nM, 1 nM, 500fM, 100 fM, 10 fM, or less. Antibodies that compete for binding with theherein disclosed antibodies are also contemplated. Competition can bedirect, for the entire epitope, or a fraction of the epitope, orcompetition can be indirect, where binding of the antibody prevents thebinding of the herein disclosed antibodies.

The terms “selectively bind” or “specifically bind” are used herein todenote that the antibody will bind to one substance more strongly thanit will bind to another substance. It is not meant to denote that theantibody will only bind to one substance. When binding only occursbetween a single substance and the antibody, the antibody is said to“exclusively” bind to the substance.

The term “agent” is used herein to denote a chemical compound, a mixtureof chemical compounds, a biological macromolecule, or an extract madefrom biological materials.

“Active” or “activity” in regard to an IL-1β polypeptide refers to aportion of an IL-1β polypeptide that has a biological or animmunological activity of a native IL-1β polypeptide. “Biological” whenused herein refers to a biological function that results from theactivity of the native IL-1β polypeptide. A preferred IL-1β biologicalactivity includes, for example, IL-1β induced inflammatory disorders.

“Mammal” when used herein refers to any animal that is considered amammal. Preferably, the mammal is human.

Digestion of antibodies with the enzyme, papain, results in twoidentical antigen-binding fragments, known also as “Fab” fragments, anda “Fc” fragment, having no antigen-binding activity but having theability to crystallize. Digestion of antibodies with the enzyme, pepsin,results in the a F(ab')₂ fragment in which the two arms of the antibodymolecule remain linked and comprise two-antigen binding sites. TheF(ab')₂ fragment has the ability to crosslink antigen.

“Fv” when used herein refers to the minimum fragment of an antibody thatretains both antigen-recognition and antigen-binding sites.

“Fab” when used herein refers to a fragment of an antibody thatcomprises the constant domain of the light chain and the CH1 domain ofthe heavy chain.

The term “mAb” refers to monoclonal antibody.

“Liposome” when used herein refers to a small vesicle that may be usefulfor delivery of drugs that may include the IL-1β polypeptide of theinvention or antibodies to such an IL-1β polypeptide to a mammal.

“Label” or “labeled” as used herein refers to the addition of adetectable moiety to a polypeptide, for example, a radiolabel,fluorescent label, enzymatic label chemiluminescent labeled or abiotinyl group. Radioisotopes or radionuclides may include ³H, ¹⁴C, ¹⁵N,³⁵S, ⁹⁰Y, ⁹⁹Tc, ¹¹¹In, ¹²⁵I, ¹³¹I, fluorescent labels may includerhodamine, lanthanide phosphors or FITC and enzymatic labels may includehorseradish peroxidase, β-galactosidase, luciferase, alkalinephosphatase.

The term “pharmaceutical agent or drug” as used herein refers to achemical compound or composition capable of inducing a desiredtherapeutic effect when properly administered to a patient. Otherchemistry terms herein are used according to conventional usage in theart, as exemplified by The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Chemical Terms(Parker, S., Ed., McGraw-Hill, San Francisco (1985)), incorporatedherein by reference.

As used herein, “substantially pure” means an object species is thepredominant species present (i.e., on a molar basis it is more abundantthan any other individual species in the composition), and preferably asubstantially purified fraction is a composition wherein the objectspecies comprises at least about 50 percent (on a molar basis) of allmacromolecular species present. Generally, a substantially purecomposition will comprise more than about 80 percent of allmacromolecular species present in the composition, more preferably morethan about 85%, 90%, 95%, and 99%. Most preferably, the object speciesis purified to essential homogeneity (contaminant species cannot bedetected in the composition by conventional detection methods) whereinthe composition consists essentially of a single macromolecular species.

The term “patient” includes human and veterinary subjects.

Human Antibodies and Humanization of Antibodies

Human antibodies avoid some of the problems associated with antibodiesthat possess murine or rat variable and/or constant regions. Thepresence of such murine or rat derived proteins can lead to the rapidclearance of the antibodies or can lead to the generation of an immuneresponse against the antibody by a patient. In order to avoid theutilization of murine or rat derived antibodies, fully human antibodiescan be generated through the introduction of functional human antibodyloci into a rodent, other mammal or animal so that the rodent, othermammal or animal produces fully human antibodies.

One method for generating fully human antibodies is through the use ofXENOMOUSE® strains of mice that have been engineered to contain 245 kband 190 kb-sized germline configuration fragments of the human heavychain locus and kappa light chain locus. Other XenoMouse strains of micecontain 980 kb and 800 kb-sized germline configuration fragments of thehuman heavy chain locus and kappa light chain locus. Still otherXenoMouse strains of mice contain 980 kb and 800 kb-sized germlineconfiguration fragments of the human heavy chain locus and kappa lightchain locus plus a 740 kb-sized germline configured complete humanlambda light chain locus. See Mendez et al. Nature Genetics 15:146-156(1997) and Green and Jakobovits J. Exp. Med. 188:483-495 (1998). TheXENOMOUSE® strains are available from Abgenix, Inc. (Fremont, Calif.).

The production of the XENOMOUSE® is further discussed and delineated inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/466,008, filed Jan. 12, 1990, Ser.No. 07/610,515, filed Nov. 8, 1990, Ser. No. 07/919,297, filed Jul. 24,1992, Ser. No. 07/922,649, filed Jul. 30, 1992, filed Ser. No.08/031,801, filed Mar. 15, 1993, Ser. No. 08/112,848, filed Aug. 27,1993, Ser. No. 08/234,145, filed Apr. 28, 1994, Ser. No. 08/376,279,filed Jan. 20, 1995, Ser. No. 08/430, 938, Apr. 27, 1995, Ser. No.08/464,584, filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/464,582, filed Jun. 5, 1995,Ser. No. 08/463,191, filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/462,837, filed Jun.5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/486,853, filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/486,857,filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/486,859, filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No.08/462,513, filed Jun. 5, 1995, Ser. No. 08/724,752, filed Oct. 2, 1996,and Ser. No. 08/759,620, filed Dec. 3, 1996, U.S. Patent Publication2003/0217373, filed Nov. 20, 2002, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,833,268,6,162,963, 6,150,584, 6,114,598, 6,075,181, and 5,939,598 and JapanesePatent Nos. 3 068 180 B2, 3 068 506 B2, and 3 068 507 B2. See alsoEuropean Patent No., EP 0 463 151 B1, grant published Jun. 12, 1996,International Patent Application No., WO 94/02602, published Feb. 3,1994, International Patent Application No., WO 96/34096, published Oct.31, 1996, WO 98/24893, published Jun. 11, 1998, WO 00/76310, publishedDec. 21, 2000. The disclosures of each of the above-cited patents,applications, and references are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

In an alternative approach, others, including GenPharm International,Inc., have utilized a “minilocus” approach. In the minilocus approach,an exogenous Ig locus is mimicked through the inclusion of pieces(individual genes) from the Ig locus. Thus, one or more V_(H) genes, oneor more D_(H) genes, one or more J_(H) genes, a mu constant region, anda second constant region (preferably a gamma constant region) are formedinto a construct for insertion into an animal. This approach isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,807 to Surani et al. and U.S. Pat. Nos.5,545,806, 5,625,825, 5,625,126, 5,633,425, 5,661,016, 5,770,429,5,789,650, 5,814,318, 5,877,397, 5,874,299, and 6,255,458 each toLonberg and Kay, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,591,669 and 6,023.010 to Krimpenfortand Berns, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,612,205, 5,721,367, and 5,789,215 to Bernset al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,763 to Choi and Dunn, and GenPharmInternational U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/574,748, filed Aug.29, 1990, Ser. No. 07/575,962, filed Aug. 31, 1990, Ser. No. 07/810,279,filed Dec. 17, 1991, Ser. No. 07/853,408, filed Mar. 18, 1992, Ser. No.07/904,068, filed Jun. 23, 1992, Ser. No. 07/990,860, filed Dec. 16,1992, Ser. No. 08/053,131, filed Apr. 26, 1993, Ser. No. 08/096,762,filed Jul. 22, 1993, Ser. No. 08/155,301, filed Nov. 18, 1993, Ser. No.08/161,739, filed Dec. 3, 1993, Ser. No. 08/165,699, filed Dec. 10,1993, Ser. No. 08/209,741, filed Mar. 9, 1994, the disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference. See also European Patent No. 0 546073 B1, International Patent Application Nos. WO 92/03918, WO 92/22645,WO 92/22647, WO 92/22670, WO 93/12227, WO 94/00569, WO 94/25585, WO96/14436, WO 97/13852, and WO 98/24884 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,175, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. See further Taylor et al., 1992, Chen et al., 1993, Tuaillonet al., 1993, Choi et al., 1993, Lonberg et al., (1994), Taylor et al.,(1994), and Tuaillon et al., (1995), Fishwild et al., (1996), thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

Kirin has also demonstrated the generation of human antibodies from micein which, through microcell fusion, large pieces of chromosomes, orentire chromosomes, have been introduced. See European PatentApplication Nos. 773 288 and 843 961, the disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference. Additionally, KM™—mice, which are theresult of cross-breeding of Kirin's Tc mice with Medarex's minilocus(Humab) mice have been generated. These mice possess the HCtranschromosome of the Kirin mice and the kappa chain transgene of theGenpharm mice (Ishida et al., Cloning Stem Cells, (2002) 4:91-102).

Human antibodies can also be derived by in vitro methods. Suitableexamples include, but are not limited to, phage display (CAT, Morphosys,Dyax, Biosite/Medarex, Xoma, Symphogen, Alexion (formerly Proliferon),Affimed) ribosome display (CAT), yeast display, and the like.

Preparation of Antibodies

Antibodies, as described herein, were prepared through the utilizationof the XENOMOUSE® technology, as described below. Such mice, then, arecapable of producing human immunoglobulin molecules and antibodies andare deficient in the production of murine immunoglobulin molecules andantibodies. Technologies utilized for achieving the same are disclosedin the patents, applications, and references disclosed in the backgroundsection herein. In particular, however, a preferred embodiment oftransgenic production of mice and antibodies therefrom is disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/759,620, filed Dec. 3, 1996 andInternational Patent Application Nos. WO 98/24893, published Jun. 11,1998 and WO 00/76310, published Dec. 21, 2000, the disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference. See also Mendez et al. NatureGenetics 15:146-156 (1997), the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

Through the use of such technology, fully human monoclonal antibodies toa variety of antigens have been produced. Essentially, XENOMOUSE® linesof mice are immunized with an antigen of interest (e.g. IL-1β),lymphatic cells (such as B-cells) are recovered from the mice thatexpressed antibodies, and the recovered cell lines are fused with amyeloid-type cell line to prepare immortal hybridoma cell lines. Thesehybridoma cell lines are screened and selected to identify hybridomacell lines that produced antibodies specific to the antigen of interest.Provided herein are methods for the production of multiple hybridomacell lines that produce antibodies specific to IL-1β. Further, providedherein are characterization of the antibodies produced by such celllines, including nucleotide and amino acid sequence analyses of theheavy and light chains of such antibodies.

Alternatively, instead of being fused to myeloma cells to generatehybridomas, B cells can be directly assayed. For example, CD19+ B cellscan be isolated from hyperimmune XENOMOUSE® mice and allowed toproliferate and differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells.Antibodies from the cell supernatants are then screened by ELISA forreactivity against the IL-1β immunogen. The supernatants might also bescreened for immunoreactivity against fragments of IL-1β to further mapthe different antibodies for binding to domains of functional intereston IL-1β. The antibodies may also be screened against other relatedhuman interleukins and against the rat, the mouse, and non-humanprimate, such as cynomolgus monkey, orthologues of IL-1β, the last todetermine species cross-reactivity. B cells from wells containingantibodies of interest may be immortalized by fusion to make hybridomaseither from individual or from pooled wells, or immortalized byinfection with EBV or transfection by known immortalizing genes and thenplating in suitable medium. Alternatively, single plasma cells secretingantibodies with the desired specificities are then isolated using anIL-1β-specific hemolytic plaque assay (Babcook et al., Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 93:7843-48 (1996)). Cells targeted for lysis are preferablysheep red blood cells (SRBCs) coated with the IL-1β antigen.

In the presence of a B-cell culture containing plasma cells secretingthe immunoglobulin of interest and complement, the formation of a plaqueindicates specific IL-1β-mediated lysis of the sheep red blood cellssurrounding the plasma cell of interest. The single antigen-specificplasma cell in the center of the plaque can be isolated and the geneticinformation that encodes the specificity of the antibody is isolatedfrom the single plasma cell. Using reverse-transcriptase followed by PCR(RT-PCR), the DNA encoding the heavy and light chain variable regions ofthe antibody can be cloned. Such cloned DNA can then be further insertedinto a suitable expression vector, preferably a vector cassette such asa pcDNA, more preferably such a pcDNA vector containing the constantdomains of immunoglobulin heavy and light chain. The generated vectorcan then be transfected into host cells, e.g., HEK293 cells, CHO cells,and cultured in conventional nutrient media modified as appropriate forinducing promoters, selecting transformants, or amplifying the genesencoding the desired sequences.

In general, antibodies produced by the fused hybridomas were human IgG4heavy chains with fully human kappa or lambda light chains. Antibodiesdescribed herein possess human IgG4 heavy chains as well as IgG2 heavychains. Antibodies can also be of other human isotypes, including IgG1.The antibodies possessed high affinities, typically possessing a K_(D)of from about 10⁻⁶ through about 10⁻¹³ M or below, when measured bysolid phase and solution phase techniques. Antibodies possessing a K_(D)of no more than 10⁻¹¹ M are preferred to inhibit the activity of IL-1β.

As will be appreciated, anti-IL-1β antibodies can be expressed in celllines other than hybridoma cell lines. Sequences encoding particularantibodies can be used to transform a suitable mammalian host cell.Transformation can be by any known method for introducingpolynucleotides into a host cell, including, for example packaging thepolynucleotide in a virus (or into a viral vector) and transducing ahost cell with the virus (or vector) or by transfection procedures knownin the art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,216, 4,912,040,4,740,461, and 4,959,455 (which patents are hereby incorporated hereinby reference). The transformation procedure used depends upon the hostto be transformed. Methods for introducing heterologous polynucleotidesinto mammalian cells are well known in the art and includedextran-mediated transfection, calcium phosphate precipitation,polybrene mediated transfection, protoplast fusion, electroporation,encapsulation of the polynucleotide(s) in liposomes, and directmicroinjection of the DNA into nuclei.

Mammalian cell lines available as hosts for expression are well known inthe art and include many immortalized cell lines available from theAmerican Type Culture Collection (ATCC), including but not limited toChinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, HeLa cells, baby hamster kidney (BHK)cells, monkey kidney cells (COS), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells(e.g., Hep G2), and a number of other cell lines. Cell lines ofparticular preference are selected through determining which cell lineshave high expression levels and produce antibodies with constitutiveIL-1β binding properties.

Anti-IL-1β antibodies are useful in the detection of IL-1β in patientsamples and accordingly are useful as diagnostics for disease states asdescribed herein. In addition, based on their ability to significantlyneutralize IL-1β activity (as demonstrated in the Examples below),anti-IL-1β antibodies have therapeutic effects in treating symptoms andconditions resulting from IL-1β. In specific embodiments, the antibodiesand methods herein relate to the treatment of symptoms resulting fromIL-1β induced disorders or IL-1β related disorders. Further embodimentsinvolve using the antibodies and methods described herein to treatIL-1β-related disorders. IL-1β-related disorders can includeinflammatory disorders, such as immune-mediated inflammatory disorders(IMID), which are inflammatory conditions caused and sustained by anantigen-specific, pathological immune response. Among these disordersare various types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis andjuvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Still's disease,and Behcet's disease. Other IMID are allergic diseases, such as asthma,hay fever, and urticaria; diseases caused by immune complexes, e.g.,systemic lupus erythematosus, glomerulonephritis, pemphigus; vasculitis,such as Wegener's granulomatosis and Kawasaki's syndrome; differenttypes of connective tissue disorders; inflammatory bowel disease (e.g.,Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis); insulin-dependent diabetes;multiple sclerosis; psoriasis; uveitis; retinitis; graft rejection; andgraft-versus host-disease. IL-1β-related disorders can also include thepathogenesis of systemic inflammatory disorders, e.g., sepsis orfamilial mediterranean fever and the Muckle-Wells syndrome. Alsoincluded are tissue inflammation in infectious, ischemic, hemorrhagic,and traumatic conditions, e.g., fasciitis, stroke, infarction of themyocardium and other organs (e.g., lung and intestine), ARDS; hepatitis,(e.g., infectious and non-infectious, acute and chronic); acute andchronic pancreatitis; reperfusion injuries; radiation injuries; vascularrestenosis of different types (e.g., coronary restenosis); andorthopedic and dental injuries ranging from muscle strain, to ligamentsprain, to periodontal disease. IL-1β related disorders further caninclude the pathogenesis of systemic disturbances of less obviousinflammatory nature, such as cachexia, chronic fatigue syndrome,anorexia and sleep and mental alterations (e.g., learning impairment),osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, organ fibrosis (e.g.,lung and liver fibrosis), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's syndromes,amyelolateroschlerosis, and various myopathies, which are consideredchiefly degenerative in nature but whose pathogenesis includesinflammatory components. IL-1β related disorders can includehyperalgesia of various types and cancer-related pain. IL-1β relateddisorders can include congestive heart failure, independently of primaryheart disease. IL-1β related disorders can include cancer, bloodmalignancies, e.g., leukemias and multiple myelomas; the development ofa number of solid tumors, tumor growth, and metastatic spreading. Aswill be appreciated by one of skill in the art, in some embodiments, theantibodies disclosed herein can be used to not only identify the abovedisorders, but to also treat, cure, or prevent such disorders. As such,methods and compositions for the detection, treatment, prevention, etc.of such disorders involving the herein disclosed antibodies arecontemplated for the above disorders and related disorders. The abovelist can also serve as examples of treatable IL-1β related disorders.

In some embodiments, the general production of antibodies can involvethe immunization of the animal with IL-1β, antibody generation(hybridoma, electrocell fusion), confirming human IgG IL-1β antibodies,producing antibodies for the assays, inhibiting IL-1β induced IL-6production, running the top neutralizers on a BIACORE device todetermine affinity, cloning the leads and sequencing them, determiningthe potency of inhibition by the antibodies, assessing the K_(D),epitope mapping, mAb production, and in vivo testing.

Therapeutic Administration and Formulations

Embodiments of the invention include sterile pharmaceutical formulationsof anti-IL-1β antibodies that are useful as treatments for diseases.Such formulations can inhibit the binding of IL-1β to its receptor,thereby effectively treating pathological conditions where, e.g., serumIL-1β is abnormally elevated. Anti-IL-1β antibodies preferably possessadequate affinity to potently neutralize IL-1β, and preferably have anadequate duration of action to allow for infrequent dosing in humans. Aprolonged duration of action will allow for less frequent and moreconvenient dosing schedules by alternate parenteral routes such assubcutaneous or intramuscular injection.

Sterile formulations can be created, for example, by filtration throughsterile filtration membranes, prior to or following lyophilization andreconstitution of the antibody. The antibody ordinarily will be storedin lyophilized form or in solution. Therapeutic antibody compositionsgenerally are placed into a container having a sterile access port, forexample, an intravenous solution bag or vial having an adapter thatallows retrieval of the formulation, such as a stopper pierceable by ahypodermic, injection needle.

The route of antibody administration is in accord with known methods,e.g., injection or infusion by intravenous, intraperitoneal,intracerebral, intramuscular, intraocular, intraarterial, intrathecal,inhalation or intralesional routes, or by sustained release systems asnoted below. The antibody is preferably administered continuously byinfusion or by bolus injection.

An effective amount of antibody to be employed therapeutically willdepend, for example, upon the therapeutic objectives, the route ofadministration, and the condition of the patient. Accordingly, it ispreferred that the therapist titer the dosage and modify the route ofadministration as required to obtain the optimal therapeutic effect.Typically, the clinician will administer antibody until a dosage isreached that achieves the desired effect. The progress of this therapyis easily monitored by conventional assays or by the assays describedherein.

Antibodies, as described herein, can be prepared in a mixture with apharmaceutically acceptable carrier. This therapeutic composition can beadministered intravenously or through the nose or lung, preferably as aliquid or powder aerosol (lyophilized). The composition may also beadministered parenterally or subcutaneously as desired. Whenadministered systemically, the therapeutic composition should besterile, pyrogen-free and in a parenterally acceptable solution havingdue regard for pH, isotonicity, and stability. These conditions areknown to those skilled in the art. Briefly, dosage formulations of thecompounds described herein are prepared for storage or administration bymixing the compound having the desired degree of purity withphysiologically acceptable carriers, excipients, or stabilizers. Suchmaterials are non-toxic to the recipients at the dosages andconcentrations employed, and include buffers such as TRIS HCl,phosphate, citrate, acetate and other organic acid salts; antioxidantssuch as ascorbic acid; low molecular weight (less than about tenresidues) peptides such as polyarginine, proteins, such as serumalbumin, gelatin, or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such aspolyvinylpyrrolidinone; amino acids such as glycine, glutamic acid,aspartic acid, or arginine; monosaccharides, disaccharides, and othercarbohydrates including cellulose or its derivatives, glucose, mannose,or dextrins; chelating agents such as EDTA; sugar alcohols such asmannitol or sorbitol; counterions such as sodium and/or nonionicsurfactants such as TWEEN, PLURONICS or polyethyleneglycol.

Sterile compositions for injection can be formulated according toconventional pharmaceutical practice as described in Remington: TheScience and Practice of Pharmacy (20^(th) ed, Lippincott Williams &Wilkens Publishers (2003)). For example, dissolution or suspension ofthe active compound in a vehicle such as water or naturally occurringvegetable oil like sesame, peanut, or cottonseed oil or a syntheticfatty vehicle like ethyl oleate or the like may be desired. Buffers,preservatives, antioxidants, and the like can be incorporated accordingto accepted pharmaceutical practice.

Suitable examples of sustained-release preparations includesemipermeable matrices of solid hydrophobic polymers containing thepolypeptide, which matrices are in the form of shaped articles, films ormicrocapsules. Examples of sustained-release matrices includepolyesters, hydrogels (e.g., poly(2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate) asdescribed by Langer et al., J. Biomed Mater. Res., (1981) 15:167-277 andLanger, Chem. Tech., (1982) 12:98-105, or poly(vinylalcohol)),polylactides (U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,919, EP 58,481), copolymers ofL-glutamic acid and gamma ethyl-L-glutamate (Sidman et al., Biopolymers,(1983) 22:547-556), non-degradable ethylene-vinyl acetate (Langer etal., supra), degradable lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymers such as theLUPRON Depot™ (injectable microspheres composed of lactic acid-glycolicacid copolymer and leuprolide acetate), and poly-D-(−)-3-hydroxybutyricacid (EP 133,988).

While polymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate and lactic acid-glycolicacid enable release of molecules for over 100 days, certain hydrogelsrelease proteins for shorter time periods. When encapsulated proteinsremain in the body for a long time, they may denature or aggregate as aresult of exposure to moisture at 37° C., resulting in a loss ofbiological activity and possible changes in immunogenicity. Rationalstrategies can be devised for protein stabilization depending on themechanism involved. For example, if the aggregation mechanism isdiscovered to be intermolecular S—S bond formation through disulfideinterchange, stabilization may be achieved by modifying sulfhydrylresidues, lyophilizing from acidic solutions, controlling moisturecontent, using appropriate additives, and developing specific polymermatrix compositions.

Sustained-released compositions also include preparations of crystals ofthe antibody suspended in suitable formulations capable of maintainingcrystals in suspension. These preparations when injected subcutaneouslyor intraperitonealy can produce a sustained release effect. Othercompositions also include liposomally entrapped antibodies. Liposomescontaining such antibodies are prepared by methods known per se: DE3,218,121; Epstein et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, (1985)82:3688-3692; Hwang et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, (1980)77:4030-4034; EP 52,322; EP 36,676; EP 88,046; EP 143,949; 142,641;Japanese patent application 83-118008; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,045 and4,544,545; and EP 102,324.

The dosage of the antibody formulation for a given patient will bedetermined by the attending physician taking into consideration, variousfactors known to modify the action of drugs including severity and typeof disease, body weight, sex, diet, time and route of administration,other medications and other relevant clinical factors. Therapeuticallyeffective dosages may be determined by either in vitro or in vivomethods.

An effective amount of the antibodies, described herein, to be employedtherapeutically will depend, for example, upon the therapeuticobjectives, the route of administration, and the condition of thepatient. Accordingly, it is preferred for the therapist to titer thedosage and modify the route of administration as required to obtain theoptimal therapeutic effect. A typical daily dosage might range fromabout 0.001 mg/kg to up to 100 mg/kg or more, depending on the factorsmentioned above. Typically, the clinician will administer thetherapeutic antibody until a dosage is reached that achieves the desiredeffect. The progress of this therapy is easily monitored by conventionalassays or as described herein.

It will be appreciated that administration of therapeutic entities inaccordance with the compositions and methods herein will be administeredwith suitable carriers, excipients, and other agents that areincorporated into formulations to provide improved transfer, delivery,tolerance, and the like. These formulations include, for example,powders, pastes, ointments, jellies, waxes, oils, lipids, lipid(cationic or anionic) containing vesicles (such as Lipofectin™), DNAconjugates, anhydrous absorption pastes, oil-in-water and water-in-oilemulsions, emulsions carbowax (polyethylene glycols of various molecularweights), semi-solid gels, and semi-solid mixtures containing carbowax.Any of the foregoing mixtures may be appropriate in treatments andtherapies in accordance with the present invention, provided that theactive ingredient in the formulation is not inactivated by theformulation and the formulation is physiologically compatible andtolerable with the route of administration. See also Baldrick P.“Pharmaceutical excipient development: the need for preclinicalguidance.” Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 32(2):210-8 (2000), Wang W.“Lyophilization and development of solid protein pharmaceuticals.” Int.J. Pharm. 203(1-2):1-60 (2000), Charman WN “Lipids, lipophilic drugs,and oral drug delivery-some emerging concepts.” J Pharm Sci.89(8):967-78 (2000), Powell et al. “Compendium of excipients forparenteral formulations” PDA J Pharm Sci Technol. 52:238-311 (1998) andthe citations therein for additional information related toformulations, excipients and carriers well known to pharmaceuticalchemists.

EXAMPLES

The following examples, including the experiments conducted and resultsachieved are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not to beconstrued as limiting upon the teachings herein.

Example 1 Immunization and Titering

Immunization

Recombinant human IL-1 beta (rhIL-1b) obtained from R&D Systems, Inc.(Minneapolis, Minn. Cat. No. 201-LB/CF) was used as an antigen (shown inSEQ ID NO: 77). Monoclonal antibodies against IL-1β were developed bysequentially immunizing XenoMouse® mice (U.S. Pat. No. 6,833,268, IssuedDec. 24, 2004 to Green et al., hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety) (XenoMouse strains XMG1(3B3L3), XMG2(XMG2L3) and XMG4 (3C-1,3C-1L3, XMG4Lstrain), Abgenix, Inc. Fremont, Calif.). XenoMouse animalswere immunized via footpad route for all injections. The total volume ofeach injection was 50 μl per mouse, 25 μl per footpad.

For Cohort 1 (10 3B3L3 mice), Cohort 2 (10 3C-1L3 mice), and Cohort 3(10 XMG2L3 mice), the initial immunization was with 10 μg of rhIL-1badmixed 1:1 (v/v) with TITERMAX GOLD® (Sigma, Oakville, ON) per mouse.The subsequent four boosts were made with 10 μg of rhIL-1b admixed 1:1(v/v) with 100 μg alum gel (Sigma, Oakville, ON) in pyrogen-free D-PBS.The fifth boost consisted of 10 μg of rhIL-1b admixed 1:1 (v/v) withTITERMAX GOLD®. The sixth injection consisted of 10 μg of rhIL-1badmixed 1:1 v/v with 100 μg alum gel. A final boost was made with 10 μgrhIL-1b in pyrogen-free DPBS, without adjuvant. The XenoMouse mice wereimmunized on days 0, 3, 6, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, and 25 for this protocoland fusions were performed on day 29.

For Cohort 4 (5 XM3C-1 mice), Cohort 5 (5 3C-1L3 mice), Cohort 6 (5XMG4L mice), Cohort 7 (5 XM3C-1 mice), Cohort 8 (5 3C-1L3 mice), andCohort 9 (5 XMG4L mice), the first injection was with 10 μg rhIL-1b inpyrogen-free Dulbecco's PBS (DPBS) admixed 1:1 (v/v) with TITERMAX GOLD®(Sigma, Oakville, ON) per mouse. The next 10 boosts were with 10 μgrhIL-1b in pyrogen-free DPBS, admixed with 25 μg of Adju-Phos (aluminumphosphate gel, Catalog #1452-250, batch #8937, HCl Biosector) and 10 μgCpG (15 μl of ImmunEasy Mouse Adjuvant, catalog #303101; lot #11553042;Qiagen) per mouse. A final boost consisted of 10 μg rhIL-1b inpyrogen-free DPBS, without adjuvant. From Cohort 4 to Cohort 6, theXenoMouse mice were immunized on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 20, 38, 41, 45,48, 52, and 55 for this protocol and fusions were performed on day 59.The two bleeds were made through Retro-Orbital Bleed procedure on day 22after the sixth boost and on day 42 after the eighth boost. From Cohort7 to Cohort 9, the XenoMouse mice were immunized on days 0, 4, 7, 11,17, 21, 38, 42, 46, 50, 53, and 57 for this protocol and fusions wereperformed on day 61. The two bleeds were made through Retro-OrbitalBleed procedure on day 26 after the sixth boost and day 45 after theeighth boost.

Selection of Animals for Harvest by Titer

IL-1β antibody titers in the serum from immunized XenoMouse mice weredetermined by ELISA. Briefly, rhIL-1 beta (1 μg/ml) was coated ontoCostar Labcoat Universal Binding Polystyrene 96-well plates (Corning,Acton, Mass.) overnight at 4° C. in Antigen Coating Buffer (0.1 MCarbonate Buffer, pH 9.6 NaHCO₃ (MW 84) 8.4 g/L). The next day, theplates were washed three times with washing buffer (0.05% Tween 20 in1×PBS) using a Biotek plate washer. The plates were then blocked with200 μl/well blocking buffer (0.5% BSA, 0.1% Tween 20, 0.01% Thimerosalin 1×PBS) and incubated at room temperature for 1 h. After the one-hourblocking, the plates were washed three times with washing buffer using aBiotek plate washer. Sera from either IL-1 beta immunized XenoMouse miceor naïve XenoMouse animals were titrated in 0.5% BSA/PBS buffer at 1:3dilutions in duplicate from a 1:100 initial dilution. The last well wasleft blank. These plates were incubated at room temperature for 2 h, andthe plates were then washed three times with washing buffer using aBiotek plate washer. A goat anti-human IgG Fc-specific horseradishperoxidase (HRP, Pierce, Rockford, Ill.) conjugated antibody was addedat a final concentration of 1 μg/ml and incubated for 1 hour at roomtemperature. The plates were washed three times with washing bufferusing a Biotek plate washer. After washing, the plates were developedwith the addition of TMB chromogenic substrate (BioFx BSTP-0100-01) for10-20 min or until negative control wells start to show color. Then theELISA was stopped by the addition of Stop Solution (650 nM Stop reagentfor TMB (BioFx BSTP-0100-01), reconstituted with 100 ml H₂O per bottle).The specific titer of each XenoMouse animal was determined from theoptical density at 650 nm and is shown in Tables 2-10 below. The titervalue is the reciprocal of the greatest dilution of sera with an ODreading two-fold that of background. Therefore, the higher the number,the greater was the humoral immune response to IL-1B.

TABLE 2 Group 1, fp, 3c-1L3, 10 mice Mouse ID After 4 inj. After 6 inj.N946-4 300 100 N947-2 325 2,500 N995-3 325 8,100 N995-5 275 4,500 O001-4650 20,000 O001-6 600 23,000 O002-2 175 1,800 O003-5 60 7,500 O003-6 204,000 O005-3 1,500 21,500 NC(h) <100 <100 NC(m) negative negative PC(m)Sensitivity 0.4 ng/ml 0.4 ng/ml NC(h) 3c-5 KLH gp1; bip L487-9; BleedApr. 16, 2001 NC(m) D39.2.1 Mab (ll-8); 1 ug/ml anti-hll-1b mAb; CatMAB601 PC(m) Lot GY179121; R&D Systems; start from 1 ug/ml

TABLE 3 Group 2, fp, 3b-3L3, 10 mice Mouse ID After 4 inj. After 6 inj.N636-9 60 1,300 N642-5 55 9,000 N646-7 2,400 16,000 N711-5 50 500 N714-55,000 45,000 N716-2 140 2,000 N716-4 7,500 14,000 N729-5 <100 <100N733-7 1,500 20,000 N736-7 2,500 35,000 NC(h) <100 <100 NC(m) negativenegative PC(m) Sensitivity 0.4 ng/ml 0.4 ng/ml NC(h) 3b-3 Mn gp1; fpL955-7; bleed May 11, 2001 NC(m) D39.2.1 Mab (ll-8) 1 ug/ml anti-hll-1bmAb; Cat MAB601 PC(m) Lot GY179121; R&D Systems; start from 1 ug/ml

TABLE 4 Group 3, fp, xmg2L3, 9 mice Mouse ID After 4 inj. After 6 inj.N701-5 2,100 70,000 N751-3 6,000 100,000 N751-4 22,000 125,000 N751-67,000 65,000 N763-1 2,500 67,000 N769-4 21,000 200,000 N770-1 175 68,000N773-2 800 25,000 N774-2 750 72,900 NC(h) 3,000 3,000 NC(m) negativenegative PC(m) Sensitivity 0.4 ng/ml 0.4 ng/ml NC(h) xmg2 KLH gp1; fpL627-3; Fusion Jan. 9, 2001 NC(m) D39.1.1 Mab (ll-8); 1 ug/mlanti-hll-1b mAb; Cat MAB601 PC(m) Lot GY179121; R&D Systems; start from1 ug/ml

TABLE 5 Group 4, fp, xm3C-1, 5 mice Mouse ID After 6 inj. After 8 inj.P382-7 50 85 P382-8 40 275 P382-3 55 275 P382-4 75 50 P382-6 75 90 NC200 200 PC 800 800

TABLE 6 Group 5, fp, xm3C-1L3, 5 mice Mouse ID After 6 inj. After 8 inj.P375-1 50 250 P375-2 35 400 P376-6 65 425 P420-1 55 150 P420-2 40 750 NC175 175 PC 1,000 1,000

TABLE 7 Group 6, fp, xmg4L, 5 mice Mouse ID After 6 inj. After 8 inj.P528-8 30 30 P531-3 10 900 P531-4 15 100 P531-5 250 100 P531-6 85 70 NC85 85 PC 1,300 1,300

TABLE 8 Group 7, fp, xm3C-1, 5 mice Mouse ID After 6 inj. After 8 inj.P525-1 55 No Bleed P527-2 55 50 P527-3 30 55 P527-4 50 200 P527-5 80 55NC 175 175 PC 1,000 1,000

TABLE 9 Group 8, fp, xm3C-1L3, 5 mice Mouse ID After 4 inj. After 6 inj.P420-4 100 225 P447-1 40 1,400 P447-2 30 600 P447-3 95 20 P-447-4 80 25NC 150 150 PC 850 850

TABLE 10 Group 9, fp, xmg4L, 5 mice Mouse ID After 4 inj. After 6 inj.P378-3 20 20 P380-7 15 45 P456-5 55 300 P529-9 40 40 P530-6 40 95 NC 175175 PC 850 850

For all datasets (groups 3 through 9), NC was LX015 gp2; fp, xm3C-1; andPC was IL-1B (xmg2L3); gp3, fp, (+)1:100.

Example 2 Recovery of Lymphocytes, B-Cell Isolations, Fusions andGeneration of Hybridomas

Immunized mice were sacrificed and the lymph nodes were harvested andpooled from each cohort. The lymphoid cells were dissociated by grindingin DMEM to release the cells from the tissues, and the cells weresuspended in DMEM. The cells were counted, and 0.9 ml DMEM per 100million lymphocytes was added to the cell pellet to resuspend the cellsgently but completely. Using 100 μl of CD90+ magnetic beads per 100million cells, the cells were labeled by incubating the cells with themagnetic beads at 4° C. for 15 minutes. The magnetically-labeled cellsuspension containing up to 10⁸ positive cells (or up to 2×10⁹ totalcells) was loaded onto a LS+ column and the column washed with DMEM. Thetotal effluent was collected as the CD90-negative fraction (most ofthese cells were expected to be B cells).

The fusion was performed by mixing washed enriched B cells from aboveand nonsecretory myeloma P3X63Ag8.653 cells purchased from ATCC, cat.#CRL 1580 (Kearney et al., J. Immunol. 123, 1979, 1548-1550) at a ratioof 1:1. The cell mixture was gently pelleted by centrifugation at 800 g.After complete removal of the supernatant, the cells were treated with2-4 mL of Pronase solution (CalBiochem, cat. # 53702; 0.5 mg/mL in PBS)for no more than 2 minutes. Then 3-5 ml of FBS was added to stop theenzyme activity and the suspension was adjusted to 40 mL total volumeusing electro cell fusion solution, ECFS (0.3 M Sucrose, Sigma, Cat#57903, 0.1 mM Magnesium Acetate, Sigma, Cat# M2545, 0.1 mM CalciumAcetate, Sigma, Cat# C4705). The supernatant was removed aftercentrifugation and the cells were resuspended in 40 mL ECFS. This washstep was repeated and the cells again were resuspended in ECFS to aconcentration of 2×10⁶ cells/mL.

Electro-cell fusion was performed using a fusion generator, modelECM2001, Genetronic, Inc., San Diego, Calif. The fusion chamber sizeused was 2.0 mL, using the following instrument settings: alignmentcondition: voltage: 50 V, time: 50 s; membrane breaking at: voltage:3000 V, time: 30 μsec; post-fusion holding time: 3 sec.

After ECF, the cell suspensions were carefully removed from the fusionchamber under sterile conditions and transferred into a sterile tubecontaining the same volume of Hybridoma Culture Medium (DMEM (JRHBiosciences), 15% FBS (Hyclone), supplemented with L-glutamine,pen/strep, OPI (oxaloacetate, pyruvate, bovine insulin) (all from Sigma)and IL-6 (Boehringer Mannheim)). The cells were incubated for 15-30minutes at 37° C., and then centrifuged at 400 g for five minutes. Thecells were gently resuspended in a small volume of Hybridoma SelectionMedium (Hybridoma Culture Medium supplemented with 0.5×HA (Sigma, cat. #A9666)), and the volume was adjusted appropriately with more HybridomaSelection Medium, based on a final plating of 5×10⁶ B cells total per96-well plate and 200 μL per well. The cells were mixed gently andpipetted into 96-well plates and allowed to grow. On day 7 or 10,one-half the medium was removed, and the cells were re-fed withHybridoma Selection Medium.

Example 3 Selection of Candidate Antibodies by ELISA

After 14 days of culture, hybridoma supernatants were screened forIL-1B-specific monoclonal antibodies. In the primary screen, the ELISAplates (Fisher, Cat. No. 12-565-136) were coated with 50 μL/well ofIL-1b (1 μg/mL) in Coating Buffer (0.1 M Carbonate Buffer, pH 9.6,NaHCO₃ 8.4 g/L), then incubated at 4° C. overnight. After incubation,the plates were washed with Washing Buffer (0.05% Tween 20 in PBS) threetimes. 200 μL/well Blocking Buffer (0.5% BSA, 0.1% Tween 20, 0.01%Thimerosal in 1×PBS) were added and the plates were incubated at roomtemperature for 1 h. After incubation, the plates were washed withWashing Buffer three times. Aliquots (50 μL/well) of hybridomasupernatants and positive and negative controls were added, and theplates were incubated at room temperature for 2 h. The positive controlused throughout was serum from the relevant hIL-1b immunized XenoMousemouse and the negative control was serum from the KLH-immunized relevantstrain of XenoMouse mouse. After incubation, the plates were washedthree times with Washing Buffer. 100 μL/well of detection antibody goatanti-huIgGfc-HRP (Caltag, Cat. No. H10507, using concentration was1:2000 dilution) was added and the plates were incubated at roomtemperature for 1 hour. After incubation, the plates were washed threetimes with Washing Buffer. 100 μl/well of TMB (BioFX Lab. Cat. No.TMSK-0100-01) was added, and the plates were allowed to develop forabout 10 minutes (until negative control wells barely started to showcolor). 50 μl/well stop solution (TMB Stop Solution (BioFX Lab. Cat. No.STPR-0100-01) was then added and the plates were read on an ELISA platereader at a wavelength of 450 nm.

The old culture supernatants from the positive hybridoma cells growthwells based on primary screen were removed and the IL-1B positivehybridoma cells were suspended with fresh hybridoma culture medium andwere transferred to 24-well plates. After 2 days in culture, thesesupernatants were ready for a secondary confirmation screen. In thesecondary confirmation screen, the positives in the first screening werescreened in direct ELISA (described as above) and Sandwich ELISA, andthree sets of detective system for each method, one set for hIgGdetection, one set for human lambda light chain detection (goat anti-hIglambda-HRP, Southern Biotechnology, Cat. No. 2070-05) and the other setfor human Ig kappa light chain detection (goat anti-hIg kappa-HRP,Southern Biotechnology, Cat. No. 2060-05) in order to demonstrate fullyhuman composition for both IgG and Ig kappa or IgG and Ig lambda or IgGand Ig kappa plus lambda. The three sets of direct ELISA procedures wereidentical to the descriptions above except the three different detectionantibodies were used separately. The Streptavidin pre-coated plates (Cat# M-5432, Sigma) were used for the Sandwich ELISAs. Blocking Buffer (100μL/well) containing 1 μg/mL of rhIL-1b was added to the Streptavidinpre-coated plates. The plates were incubated at room temperature for 1h. After incubation, the plates were washed with Washing Buffer threetimes. 50 μL/well of hybridoma supernatants (the positives from thefirst screening) and positive and negative controls were added, and theplates were incubated at room temperature for 2 h. The remainingprocedures were identical to the three sets of direct ELISA describedabove.

All positive hits from the ELISA assay were counter screened for bindingto IL-1α by ELISA in order to exclude those that cross-react with IL-1α.The ELISA plates (Fisher, Cat. No. 12-565-136) were coated with 50μL/well of recombinant hIL-1α. (R&D cat# 200-LA) in Coating Buffer (0.1M Carbonate Buffer, pH 9.6, NaHCO₃ 8.4 g/L), then incubated at 4° C.overnight. The remaining procedures were identical to the descriptionsabove.

There were 614 fully human IgG/kappa or IgG/lambda IL-1b specificmonoclonal antibodies that were generated. The number of antibodiesresulting from this process is summarized in Table 11 for each fusion.

TABLE 11 # hIgG Assay Fusion # positive Primary screen fusion 1 (3B-3L3)171 fusion 2 (3C-1L3) 120 fusion 3 447 (xgm2L3) fusion 4 (3C-1) 82fusion 5 (3C-1L3) 85 fusion 6 (xgm4L) 170 fusion 7 (3C-1) 2 fusion 8(3C-1L3) 99 fusion 9 (xgm4L) 204 fusion 10 (3C-1) 5 fusion 17 11(3C-1L3) fusion 12 16 (xgm4L) hIgG/ hIgG/ hIgG/hkappa/ Fusion # hkappahlamdba hlambda Second screen fusion 1 (3B-3L3) 51 38 7 fusion 2(3C-1L3) 24 22 0 fusion 3 60 43 12 (xgm2L3) fusion 4 (3C-1) 24 N/A N/Afusion 5 (3C-1L3) 22 16 4 fusion 6 (xgm4L) 1 108 1 fusion 7 (3C-1) 2 N/AN/A fusion 8 (3C-1L3) 17 36 4 fusion 9 (xgm4L) 1 160 1 fusion 10 (3C-1)4 0 0 fusion 3 4 0 11 (3C-1L3) fusion 12 0 7 0 (xgm4L)

All fully human IgG/kappa or IgG/lambda IL-1β specific monoclonalantibodies were screened for binding to mouse IL-1β by ELISA in order toidentify the species cross-reactivity. The ELISA plates (Fisher, Cat.No. 12-565-136) were coated with 50 μL/well of recombinant mIL-1b (R&DSystem, Recombinant Mouse IL-1β/IL-1F2, Carrier Free, Cat# 401-ML/CF) orcynomolgus IL-1β (R&D system, Recombinant Rhesus Macaque IL-1β/IL-1F2,Carrier Free Cat# 1318-RL/CF), 2 μg/mL (obtained from R&D Systems, Cat.# 293-AN-025/CF) in Coating Buffer (0.1 M Carbonate Buffer, pH 9.6,NaHCO₃ 8.4 g/L), then incubated at 4° C. overnight. The remainingprocedures were identical to the descriptions above. There were no fullyhuman IgG/kappa or IgG/lambda IL-1β specific monoclonal antibodies thatwere mouse species cross-reactive.

Example 4 Neutralization of IL-1β Induced IL-6 Production by HybridomaAnti-IL-1β Antibodies

343 hybridoma supernatants containing IL-1β specific monoclonalantibodies were screened for their ability to neutralize IL-1β inducedIL-6 production in MRC-5 cells (lung fibroblast cells). 96 wellflat-bottom plates were seeded with 5000 MRC-5 cells per well in 100 μlof MEM, 1% FBS. The plates were incubated for 18-20 hours at 37° C.+5%CO₂ to allow cell adherence. Following cell adherence, media was removedfrom cells and replaced with 100 μl of hybridoma supernatant samplesdiluted 1:2.5 in MEM, 1% FBS. 100 μl of recombinant IL-1β (R&D Systemscat. # 201-LB) was added to a final concentration of 4 pM, resulting ina 1:5 final dilution of supernatant samples in the plate. Wellscontaining IL-1β alone and supernatant alone were included as controls.Plates were then incubated at 37° C.+5% CO₂ for an additional 24 hours.Supernatants were collected and assayed for human IL-6 levels by ELISA.Percent IL-6 production in each well was calculated compared to an IL-1βalone control (100% production). Samples with the ability to inhibitIL-6 production by 35% or greater we considered positive. Total numberpositive supernatants from each fusion are shown in Table 12 below.

TABLE 12 Group # Total # Total # positive Fusion 4 (3C-1) 23 2 Fusion 5(3C-1L3) 42 13 Fusion 6 (xgm4L) 96 17 Fusion 7 (3C-1) 2 0 Fusion 8(3C-1L3) 65 24 Fusion 9 (xgm4L) 96 33 Fusion 10 (3C-1) 4 0 Fusion 11(3C-1L3) 8 1 Fusion 12 (xgm4L) 7 0

The 90 positive hybridoma supernatants containing IL-1β antibodies werere-screened for their ability to neutralize IL-1β induced IL-6production in MRC-5 cells at 1:5, 1:10 and 1:20 final dilution ofsupernatant samples in the plate. Results are shown in the FIGS. 1A-1D.FIGS. 1A-1D are bar graph displays of varying dilutions of theantibodies.

Example 5 Human IL-1β Low Resolution Biacore Screen of 97 mAb HybridomaCell Supernatants

The label-free surface plasmon resonance (SPR), or Biacore, was utilizedto measure the antibody affinity to the antigen. For this purpose, ahigh-density goat anti-human antibody surface over a CM5 Biacore chipwas prepared using routine amine coupling. All of the hybridoma cellsupernatants were diluted two-fold in HBS-P running buffer containing100 μg/ml BSA and 10 mg/mL carboxymethyldextran except for mAbs 8.59 and9.9 which were not diluted. Each mAb was captured on a separate surfaceusing a 180-second contact time, and a 5-minute wash for stabilizationof the mAb baseline.

IL-1β was injected at 118 nM at 25° C. over all surfaces for 90 seconds,followed by a 5-minute dissociation. Double-referenced binding data wasprepared by subtracting the signal from a control flow cell andsubtracting the baseline drift of a buffer injection just prior to theIL-1β injection. Data were fit globally to a 1:1 interaction model todetermine the binding kinetics. The kinetic analysis results of IL-1βbinding at 25° C. are listed in Table 13 below. The mAbs are ranked fromhighest to lowest affinity.

TABLE 13 Amt. Captured Sample (RU) k_(a) (M⁻¹s⁻¹) k_(d) (s⁻¹) K_(D) (pM)9.19 572 5.6 × 10⁵ 1.5 × 10⁻⁴  268 5.5 514 1.8 × 10⁶ 5.0 × 10⁻⁴  2789.100 230 6.1 × 10⁵ 1.7 × 10⁻⁴  279 9.11 651 6.9 × 10⁵ 2.0 × 10⁻⁴  2906.33 508 5.0 × 10⁵ 1.6 × 10⁻⁴  320 6.7 325 1.2 × 10⁶ 5.6 × 10⁻⁴  3509.54 359 2.3 × 10⁶ 8.5 × 10⁻⁴  370 6.20 711 5.9 × 10⁵ 2.6 × 10⁻⁴  4416.26 686 9.2 × 10⁵ 4.4 × 10⁻⁴  478 9.56 332 9.2 × 10⁵ 4.9 × 10⁻⁴  5335.12 499 5.9 × 10⁵ 3.3 × 10⁻⁴  559 9.22 422 5.4 × 10⁵ 3.3 × 10⁻⁴  6118.18 323 3.5 × 10⁵ 2.2 × 10⁻⁴  629 5.36 800 5.9 × 10⁵ 4.2 × 10⁻⁴  7129.2 500 9.9 × 10⁵ 7.4 × 10⁻⁴  747 6.34 779 8.1 × 10⁵ 6.1 × 10⁻⁴  7539.26 375 4.1 × 10⁵ 3.5 × 10⁻⁴  854 5.25 268 6.9 × 10⁵ 6.0 × 10⁻⁴  8709.47 268 3.3 × 10⁶ 3.0 × 10⁻³  909* 9.85 74 5.8 × 10⁵ 6.0 × 10⁻⁴ 10349.58 428 2.1 × 10⁶ 2.2 × 10⁻³  1048* 8.64 403 4.2 × 10⁵ 4.7 × 10⁻⁴ 11198.26 402 6.9 × 10⁵ 7.9 × 10⁻⁴ 1145 8.6 304 5.6 × 10⁵ 6.9 × 10⁻⁴ 12305.32 269 8.0 × 10⁵ 9.9 × 10⁻⁴ 1237 9.45 77 1.1 × 10⁶ 1.4 × 10⁻³ 12735.35 259 3.8 × 10⁵ 5.0 × 10⁻⁴ 1316 6.39 651 3.7 × 10⁵ 4.9 × 10⁻⁴ 13248.1 360 3.0 × 10⁵ 4.1 × 10⁻⁴ 1370 6.80 494 4.0 × 10⁵ 5.5 × 10⁻⁴ 1375 8.4431 1.1 × 10⁶ 1.6 × 10⁻³ 1455 9.94 299 4.6 × 10⁵ 7.3 × 10⁻⁴ 1587 9.5 3051.1 × 10⁶ 1.8 × 10⁻³  1640* 6.65 357 4.2 × 10⁵ 7.0 × 10⁻⁴ 1667 9.71 3073.9 × 10⁵ 6.5 × 10⁻⁴ 1667 9.72 325 3.7 × 10⁵ 6.6 × 10⁻⁴ 1784 6.24 6491.2 × 10⁶ 2.2 × 10⁻³ 1833 5.24 482 4.3 × 10⁵ 8.1 × 10⁻⁴ 1880 8.59 1391.9 × 10⁶ 3.6 × 10⁻³ 1895 9.95 408 3.2 × 10⁵ 6.3 × 10⁻⁴ 1969 6.85 11603.3 × 10⁵ 6.5 × 10⁻⁴ 1970 5.2 380 5.0 × 10⁵ 1.0 × 10⁻³ 2000 9.74 41 3.5× 10⁵ 7.5 × 10⁻⁴ 2140 9.55 260 3.1 × 10⁵ 6.8 × 10⁻⁴ 2194 8.59 169 1.2 ×10⁶ 2.6 × 10⁻³ 2200 9.48 457 2.9 × 10⁵ 6.4 × 10⁻⁴ 2207 9.42 396 3.1 ×10⁵ 6.9 × 10⁻⁴ 2226 9.76 490 4.4 × 10⁵ 1.0 × 10⁻³ 2273 8.11 749 2.9 ×10⁵ 7.1 × 10⁻⁴ 2448 9.82 893 3.8 × 10⁵ 9.7 × 10⁻⁴ 2553 9.12 526 3.1 ×10⁵ 8.0 × 10⁻⁴ 2580 6.61 896 3.2 × 10⁵ 8.3 × 10⁻⁴ 2594 9.70 112 6.1 ×10⁵ 1.6 × 10⁻³ 2623 8.42 279 3.5 × 10⁵ 9.4 × 10⁻⁴ 2686 9.3 275 1.6 × 10⁵4.3 × 10⁻⁴ 2687 9.32 576 4.4 × 10⁵ 1.2 × 10⁻³ 2727 5.38 593 5.6 × 10⁵1.6 × 10⁻³ 2857 11.5 468 4.9 × 10⁵ 1.4 × 10⁻³ 2857 8.62 736 4.4 × 10⁵1.4 × 10⁻³ 3182 6.27 653 2.5 × 10⁵ 8.1 × 10⁻⁴ 3240 9.16 565 2.0 × 10⁶6.7 × 10⁻³ 3350 5.23 379 1.1 × 10⁶ 3.8 × 10⁻³ 3455 6.2 360 4.7 × 10⁵ 1.7× 10⁻³ 3617 8.7 392 4.2 × 10⁵ 1.6 × 10⁻³ 3809 6.58 904 1.0 × 10⁶ 4.2 ×10⁻³ 4200 9.39 389 4.6 × 10⁵ 2.0 × 10⁻³ 4348 8.44 412 4.7 × 10⁵ 2.1 ×10⁻³ 4468 4.20 242 4.6 × 10⁶ 2.3 × 10⁻³ 5000 5.37 981 5.8 × 10⁵ 2.9 ×10⁻³ 5000 4.14 652 2.9 × 10⁵ 1.5 × 10⁻³ 5170 6.45 946 1.8 × 10⁶ 1.0 ×10⁻² 5555 9.31 570 6.6 × 10⁵ 3.8 × 10⁻³ 5760 5.20 798 1.8 × 10⁶ 1.1 ×10⁻² 6111 8.5 477 1.2 × 10⁶ 7.4 × 10⁻³ 6167 8.63 616 1.3 × 10⁶ 8.2 ×10⁻³ 6307 5.14 598 3.8 × 10⁵ 2.4 × 10⁻³ 6316 6.15 759 1.5 × 10⁶ 9.7 ×10⁻³ 6467 8.14 406 3.5 × 10⁵ 2.3 × 10⁻³ 6571 9.89 456 6.8 × 10⁵ 4.7 ×10⁻³ 6912 9.38 296 2.0 × 10⁶ 1.4 × 10⁻² 7000 4.11 596 3.3 × 10⁵ 2.5 ×10⁻³ 7580 8.33 615 2.1 × 10⁶ 1.6 × 10⁻² 7619 8.52 741 2.1 × 10⁶ 1.7 ×10⁻² 8095 8.9 838 1.4 × 10⁶ 1.2 × 10⁻² 8571 6.57 1160 3.1 × 10⁵ 2.7 ×10⁻³ 8710 8.50 473 3.0 × 10⁶ 2.7 × 10⁻² 9000 8.61 591 4.7 × 10⁵ 5.3 ×10⁻³ 1.13 × 10⁴ 8.17 657 2.7 × 10⁶ 3.2 × 10⁻² 1.18 × 10⁴ 8.21 895 1.5 ×10⁶ 1.9 × 10⁻² 1.27 × 10⁴ 8.55 1010 1.6 × 10⁶ 2.1 × 10⁻² 1.31 × 10⁴ 8.58624 4.0 × 10⁵ 5.5 × 10⁻³ 1.37 × 10⁴ 9.27 222 2.5 × 10⁵ 3.7 × 10⁻³ 1.48 ×10⁴ 9.57 454 1.1 × 10⁶ 1.7 × 10⁻² 1.55 × 10⁴ 8.10 718 1.3 × 10⁶ 2.4 ×10⁻² 1.85 × 10⁴ 8.24 878 1.6 × 10⁶ 3.1 × 10⁻² 1.94 × 10⁴ 9.9 454 7.3 ×10⁵ 1.5 × 10⁻² 2.05 × 10⁴ 4.5 530 9.3 × 10⁵ 3.0 × 10⁻² 3.25 × 10⁴

The asterisks next to the K_(D) results for mAbs 9.5, 9.58, and 9.47indicate that these K_(D)'s may not be as reliable as the other K_(D)sowing to the poor fit of the sensorgrams of these mAbs to a 1:1interaction model.

Example 6 Cynomolgus IL-1β Low Resolution Biacore Screen of 20Monoclonal Antibody Hybridoma Cell Supernatants

For this purpose, a high-density goat anti-human antibody surface over aCM5 Biacore chip was prepared using routine amine coupling. All of thehybridoma cell supernatants were diluted two-fold in HBS-P runningbuffer containing 100 μg/ml BSA and 10 mg/mL carboxymethyldextran. EachmAb was captured on a separate surface using a 120-second contact time,and a 5-minute wash for stabilization of the mAb baseline.

Cynomolgus monkey IL-1β was injected at 117 nM at 25° C. over allsurfaces for 90 seconds, followed by a 5-minute dissociation.Double-referenced binding data was prepared by subtracting the signalfrom a control flow cell and subtracting the baseline drift of a bufferinjection just prior to the IL-1β injection. Data were fit globally to a1:1 interaction model to determine the binding kinetics. The kineticanalysis results of cynomolgus IL-1β binding at 25° C. are listed inTable 14, below. The mAbs are ranked from highest to lowest affinity.

TABLE 14 Amt. Captured Sample (RU) k_(a) (M⁻¹s⁻¹) k_(d) (s⁻¹) K_(D) (nM)9.19 486 2.6 × 10⁵ 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ 0.5 6.33 421 2.3 × 10⁵ 1.8 × 10⁻⁴ 0.8 9.11583 3.3 × 10⁵ 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ 0.8 8.18 255 1.1 × 10⁵ 9.2 × 10⁻⁵ 0.8 9.5 2202.2 × 10⁵ 2.3 × 10⁻⁴ 1.0 6.26 564 2.7 × 10⁵ 3.1 × 10⁻⁴ 1.1 9.26 263 1.5× 10⁵ 2.0 × 10⁻⁴ 1.3 9.54 284 1.8 × 10⁵ 3.5 × 10⁻⁴ 1.9 8.50 384 4.7 ×10⁵ 1.2 × 10⁻³ 2.5 8.59 63 4.6 × 10⁵ 1.5 × 10⁻³ 3.3 5.36 771 2.1 × 10⁵7.2 × 10⁻⁴ 3.4 9.2 423 3.1 × 10⁵ 1.4 × 10⁻³ 4.5* 5.5 438 2.4 × 10⁵ 1.1 ×10⁻³ 4.6 9.74 28 9.0 × 10⁴ 4.3 × 10⁻⁴ 4.8 9.31 442 3.0 × 10⁵ 1.5 × 10⁻³5.0 8.6 262 1.6 × 10⁵ 8.5 × 10⁻⁴ 5.3 4.20 115 8.0 × 10⁵ 5.0 × 10⁻³ 6.36.7 41 3.2 × 10⁵ 2.5 × 10⁻³ 7.8 6.20 635 2.5 × 10⁵ 6.1 × 10⁻³ 24.4 6.34772 3.2 × 10⁵ 1.8 × 10⁻² 56.2

Example 7 Characterization of 24 IL-1β Antibodies

The binding and neutralization characteristics of some of theseantibodies were determined and are summarized in Table 15. The methodfor determining the characteristics are discussed in greater detail inExample 4, above. The amino acid and nucleic acid sequences for each ofthe antibodies were determined by standard means and is provided in thesequence listing provided herewith.

TABLE 15 Neutralization Antibody ka (M−1s−1) kd (s−1) KD (pM) KD (pM) (%IL-6 Production) ID Medium Resolution Low Res 1:5 dilut. 1:10 dilut.1:20 dilut. 9.19 6.40E+05 4.00E−05  63 268 5 10 15 9.5 2.60E+06 3.50E−04130* 1640* 0 0 0 9.11 1.60E+06 2.30E−04 140 290 4 3 10 6.33 9.70E+051.40E−04 140 320 13 22 22 9.54 2.50E+06 3.50E−04 140 370 5 21 36 6.201.50E+06 2.60E−04 170 441 4 6 11 5.5 3.10E+06 5.70E−04 180 278 1 3 66.26 1.90E+06 3.80E−04 200 478 9 8 22 9.100 5.30E+05 1.50E−04 280 279 3937 36 9.2 1.20E+06 3.50E−04 290 747 4 8 16 6.7 1.30E+06 4.20E−04 320 3500 17 22 8.18 4.90E+05 2.20E−04 450 629 2 3 9 5.36 1.00E+06 5.80E−04 580712 6 8 18 8.6 6.60E+05 5.40E−04 820 1230  6 8 23 6.34 N.D. N.D. N.D.753 10 7 20 9.26 N.D. N.D. N.D. 854 12 27 27 9.31 N.D. N.D. N.D. 5760  623 13 9.74 N.D. N.D. N.D. 2140  5 24 28 9.56 N.D. N.D. N.D. 533 35 39 765.12 N.D. N.D. N.D. 559 29 48 62 9.22 N.D. N.D. N.D. 611 16 24 51 5.25N.D. N.D. N.D. 870 30 36 39 9.47 N.D. N.D. N.D. 909 10 47 86 9.85 N.D.N.D. N.D. 1034  24 63 80 *complex kinetics

Example 8 Human IL-1β High Resolution Biacore Screen of 6 PurifiedMonoclonal Antibodies

Each of six purified mAbs (9.5.2, 5.5.1, 8.18.1, 6.20.1, 6.33.1, and9.19.1) were amine coupled on a different flow cell surface of a CM5Biacore chip and tested for their binding affinity to human IL-1β. AllmAbs were diluted into 10 mM sodium acetate, pH 4.0 for immobilization.The running buffer and sample preparation buffer for all experimentswere degassed HBS-P containing 100 μg/mL BSA. All experiments were runat 23° C. with a flow rate of 100 μL/min. With the exception of mAb9.5.2, serially diluted (2-fold) IL-1β samples were randomly injected intriplicate for 90 seconds with several buffer injections interspersedfor double referencing. Regeneration conditions and dissociation timesvaried (see below). A Biacore 2000 biosensor instrument was used for allhigh resolution experiments.

MAb 9.5.2:

A CM5 chip was prepared with mAb 9.5.2 covalently immobilized usingstandard amine coupling chemistry on flow cells 1, 2, and 4 with flowcell 3 serving as a control (immobilization levels for 9.5.2 on Fc1, 2,and 4 were 1650, 1370, and 652 RU, respectively). An IL-1β solution witha final concentration of 55 pM (250 mL) was prepared using glassserological pipettes and volumetric glassware. IL-1β at a concentrationof 55 pM was injected directly from the buffer pump reservoir at 100μL/min in cycle 1 for 18.1 hrs followed by pumping running buffer(HBS-P, 100 μg/ml BSA, pH 7.4) to follow the dissociation reaction for24.8 hours across all four flow cells. Before the antigen injection wasstarted, the sensorgram was run for one hour by flowing running bufferin order to establish a pre-injection baseline. Before the next cyclethe surface was regenerated with two 35 μl pulses of 146 mM phosphoricacid, pH ˜1.5.

In the second Biacore cycle, running buffer was flowed as if an actualinjection of IL-1β was taking place. Running buffer was flowed acrossall the surfaces for ˜50 hours to simulate the time course of theassociation and dissociation phases for IL-1β performed in cycle 1 (1 hrfor baseline stabilization, 18.1 hrs for association and 24.8 hours fordissociation). All data were processed in the program Scrubber anddouble-referenced (only one blank sensorgram, from cycle 2, wasavailable for double referencing) and the data were fit in CLAMP 2000.When the sensorgrams from both flow cells 1 & 2 were fit globally usinga 1:1 interaction model with a term for mass transport (6.6×10⁸RU*M⁻¹S⁻¹) the binding parameters shown in Table 16 resulted.

This “long association and dissociation” Biacore methodology gives aK_(D) for the IL-1β/mAb 9.5.2 interaction that is ˜7.5-fold less tightthan that observed with KinExA technology (see Example 9 below). Thisdiscrepancy is most likely owing to the fact that concentrations nearthe true K_(D) of approximately 200 fM cannot be flowed across the mAbsurface because no signal can be observed at this low of an IL-1βconcentration.

MAb 5.5.1:

MAb 5.5.1 was diluted to 14 μg/mL to immobilize 762 RU on one flow cell.The serially diluted IL-1β concentration range was 4.9-0.31 nM.Dissociation data was recorded over 15 minutes. The surface wasregenerated after each cycle with a 21 second pulse of 10 mMglycine-HCl, pH 2.5, followed by a 15 second injection of the sameglycine solution.

MAb 6.33.1:

MAb 6.33.1 was diluted to 7.5 μg/mL to immobilize 694 RU on one flowcell. The serially diluted IL-1β concentration range was 29.4-0.92 nM.Dissociation data was recorded over 20 minutes. The surface wasregenerated after each cycle with two 21 second pulses of 10 mMglycine-HCl, pH 2.0.

MAb 9.19.1:

MAb 9.19.1 was diluted to 12.6 μg/mL to immobilize 977, 763, and 817 RUon three different flow cells, respectively. The IL-1β concentrationrange was 19.6-0.61 nM. Dissociation data was recorded over 15 minutes.The surfaces were regenerated after each cycle with one 21 second pulseof 10 mM glycine-HCl, pH 2.0, and one 6 second injection of 146 mMphosphoric acid, pH 1.5.

MAb 6.20.1:

MAb 6.20.1 was diluted to 17.6 μg/mL to immobilize 907 RU on one flowcell. The IL-1β concentration range was 29.4-0.92 nM. Dissociation datawas recorded over 20 minutes. The surface was regenerated after eachcycle with one 12 second pulse of 10 mM glycine-HCl, pH 2.0.

MAb 8.18.1:

MAb 8.18.1 was diluted to 18.5 μg/mL to immobilize 572 RU on one flowcell. The IL-1β concentration range was 58.7-0.92 nM. Dissociation datawas recorded over 20 minutes. The surface was regenerated after eachcycle with one 12 second pulse of 10 mM glycine-HCl, pH 2.0.

The data for all six mAbs were globally fit to a 1:1 interaction modelwith mass transport using CLAMP. The resulting binding constants areshown in Table 16 below. The asterisk next to the results listed for mAb6.20.1 indicates this data showed complex kinetics.

TABLE 16 Sample k_(a) (M⁻¹s⁻¹) k_(d) (s⁻¹) K_(D) (pM) 9.5.2  7.1 × 10⁵ 1.1 × 10⁻⁶    1.5 5.5.1 1.57 × 10⁷ 7.04 × 10⁻⁴   44.7 6.33.1 1.10 × 10⁶2.59 × 10⁻⁴ 236 9.19.1 7.27 × 10⁵ 1.90 × 10⁻⁴ 262 6.20.1  1.24 × 10⁶* 3.63 × 10⁻⁴*  293* 8.18.1 4.85 × 10⁵ 1.88 × 10⁻⁴ 388

Example 9 High Resolution Binding Analysis by Kinexa (Kinetic ExclusionAssay)

Human IL-1β High Resolution Binding Analysis by Kinexa (KineticExclusion Assay) for Purified mAb 9.5.2 (IgG4 Isotype)

In addition to Biacore measurements, the K_(D) of mAb 9.5.2 (IgG4isotype) binding to human IL-1β was determined using KinExA technology.For this purpose, a KinExA 3000 instrument was utilized. First, 50 mg ofazlactone beads were coupled with IL-1β (˜34 μg) in 50 mM sodiumcarbonate buffer, pH 9.0 overnight at 4° C. Second, after conjugation ofIL-1β to the beads, the beads were centrifuged and washed once withblocking buffer (1 M Tris buffer, pH 8.3, 10 mg/ml BSA) and centrifugedagain. The beads were then incubated in blocking buffer for one to twohours at ˜22° C. in order to block any remaining reactive azlactonegroups present on the surface of the beads. After blocking, the beadswere transferred to a standard KinExA bead vial and placed on theinstrument.

K_(D)-controlled titration: Twelve solutions containing a nominal mAbbinding site concentration of 667 fM were titrated with increasingconcentrations of IL-1β in hepes buffered saline, 0.005% polysorbate 20(P-20), 100 ug/ml bovine serum albumin, BSA, pH 7.4 (HBS-P buffer). Eachsolution had a total volume of 50 ml and was allowed to equilibrate for8 days at ˜22° C. The titration solutions were prepared using volumetricglassware and the IL-1β concentrations varied from 99.5 pM to 1.94 fM.The instrument method used for the analysis of these solutions consistedof a bead packing step in which the beads were packed into a glasscapillary, and the equilibrated solutions were flowed through the beadcolumn at 0.25 ml/min for 80 min (20 ml) in duplicate. Subsequently, afluorescently labeled cy-5 goat anti-human (heavy+light chain (H+L)specific) polyclonal antibody at 13.6 nM was flowed through the beadpack for 2 min at 0.5 mL/min to label the free mAb binding site capturedon the beads. The fluorescence emission from the bead pack was measuredat 670 nm with excitation at 620 nm. The resulting fluorescencemeasurements were converted into % free mAb binding site versus totalantigen concentration using the accompanying KinExA software package(version 1.0.3). The resulting K_(D)-controlled titration curve was fitwith the KinExA software to a 1:1 equilibrium isotherm with a driftcorrection factor included. The value of the 9.5.2 antibody (IgG4) K_(D)that fit the data optimally was 40 fM with low and high 95% confidencelimits at 4.9 fM and 114 fM, respectively.

MAb-controlled titrations: Two mAb-controlled titrations were performedin a similar fashion to the K_(D)-controlled titration. Twelve solutionscontaining a nominal mAb binding site concentration of 5.33 pM(titration A) and 102 pM (titration B) were titrated with increasingconcentrations of IL-1β in HBS-P buffer. Each solution had a totalvolume of 2.5 and 50 ml for titrations B and A, respectively. The IL-1βconcentrations varied from 398 pM to 8 fM in both titrations. Thesolutions were allowed to equilibrate for ˜1 day for titration B and ˜8days for titration A at room temperature before quantitation of free mAbbinding site in each of the solutions on the KinExA 3000 instrument. Theinstrument method used for the analysis of these solutions consisted ofa bead packing step in which the beads were packed into a glasscapillary, the equilibrated solutions were flowed through the beadcolumn at 0.25 ml/min for 2 min (0.5 ml) for titration B and for 40 min.(10 ml) for titration A in triplicate, and subsequently, a fluorescentlylabeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L specific) polyclonal antibody at 3.4nM (for titrations A & B) was flowed through the bead pack for 2 min at0.5 mL/min. The fluorescence emission from the bead pack was measured aspreviously described above. The resulting fluorescence measurements wereconverted into % free mAb binding site versus total antigenconcentration as described above and the mAb-controlled titration datawere fit in a triple curve analysis (simultaneous fitting of both theK_(D)-controlled and the two mAb-controlled titration curves) to a 1:1equilibrium isotherm with drift correction included. The fitted valuesfor the K_(D) and active mAb binding site concentration from the tripletitration curve analysis yielded values of 181 fM (with low and high 95%confidence limits of 60.0 and 341 fM) and 6.33 pM (with low and high 95%confidence limits of 5.36 and 7.47 pM for titration A), respectively.The K_(D), 181 fM, resulting from the triple curve analysis is moreaccurate than the fit from the single K_(D)-controlled titration curvesince it comes from the more rigorous global analysis of three titrationcurves.

Kinexa “Direct” Kinetic Method for Determination of K_(ON)

A “direct” kinetic methodology was used in order to determine thekinetic association rate constant, kon, of IL-1β binding to 9.5.2 (IgG4isotype). Azlactone beads were prepared as described above for theequilibrium titrations. All IL-1β and mAb 9.5.2 solutions were preparedin degassed HBS-P buffer. A 25 ml solution containing IL-1β at aninitial concentration of 238.8 pM was mixed rapidly with a 25 mlsolution of 9.5.2 initially at 200 pM mAb binding site to make a 50 mlsolution with final concentrations of IL-1β and mAb 9.5.2 of 119.4 pMand 99.9 pM binding site, respectively. For quantitation of free mAb asa function of time, 0.5 ml of the final solution above was flowedthrough the bead pack at a flow rate of 0.25 ml/min for 2 min (1 mL) andthen detected using a 2 min. flow through of a 3.4 nM fluorescentlylabeled cy-5 labeled goat anti-human pAb (H+L). The first time point inthe exponential decay was at 464 sec and after that a point wascollected every 804 sec (˜13.5 min) as equilibrium was approached over 1hr. The resulting monophasic exponential curve was fit in the providedKinExA software (version 1.0.3) to a single exponential function thatdescribes a 1:1 interaction. The resultant kon=3.4×106 M-1s-1 with a 95%confidence interval of 2.8-4.0×106 M-1s-1. By multiplying konX KD thedissociation rate constant, koff, was calculated as 6.1×10-7 s-1.

Human IL-1β High Resolution Binding Analysis by Kinexa (KineticExclusion Assay) for Purified mAb 9.5.2 (IgG2 Isotype)

The K_(D) of mAb 9.5.2 binding to human IL-1β was also determined usingKinExA technology a 9.5.2 monoclonal antibody that was class-switchedfrom an IgG4 isotype to an IgG2 isotype. Methods for class switchingantibodies are known in the art and discussed in Example 10 below.First, 50 mg of azlactone beads were coupled with IL-1β (˜34 μg) in 50mM sodium carbonate buffer, pH 9.0 overnight at 4° C. Second, afterconjugation of IL-1β to the beads, the beads were centrifuged and washedonce with blocking buffer (1 M Tris buffer, pH 8.3, 10 mg/ml BSA) andcentrifuged again, and then incubated in blocking buffer for one to twohours at ˜22° C. in order to block any remaining reactive azlactonegroups present on the surface of the beads. After blocking, the beadswere transferred to a standard KinExA bead vial and placed on theinstrument.

K_(D)-controlled titration: Twelve solutions containing a nominal mAbbinding site concentration of 680 fM were titrated with increasingconcentrations of IL-1β in HBS-P buffer. Each solution had a totalvolume of 50 ml and was allowed to equilibrate for 8 days at ˜22° C. Thetitration solutions were prepared using volumetric glassware and theIL-1β concentrations varied from 99.5 pM to 1.94 fM. The instrumentmethod used for the analysis of these solutions consisted of a beadpacking step in which the beads were packed into a glass capillary, andthe equilibrated solutions were flowed through the bead column at 0.25ml/min for 80 min (20 ml) in duplicate. Subsequently, a fluorescentlylabeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L specific) polyclonal antibody at 13.6nM was flowed through the bead pack for 2 min at 0.5 ml/min to label thefree mAb binding site captured on the beads. The fluorescence emissionfrom the bead pack was measured as previously described. The resultingfluorescence measurements were converted into % free mAb binding siteversus total antigen concentration using the accompanying KinExAsoftware package (version 1.0.3). The resulting K_(D)-controlledtitration curve was fit with the KinExA software to a 1:1 equilibriumisotherm with a drift correction factor included. The value of the K_(D)that fit the data optimally was 41 fM with low and high 95% confidencelimits at 11 fM and 83 fM, respectively.

MAb-controlled titrations: Two mAb-controlled titrations were performedin a similar fashion to the K_(D)-controlled titration. Twelve solutionscontaining a nominal mAb binding site concentration of 4.98 pM(titration A) and 102 pM (titration B) were titrated with increasingconcentrations of IL-1β in HBS-P buffer. Each solution had a totalvolume of 2.5 and 50 ml for titrations B and A, respectively. The IL-1βconcentrations varied from 398 pM to 8 fM in both titrations. Thesolutions were allowed to equilibrate for 18 hours for titration B and˜8 days for titration A at room temperature before quantitation of freemAb binding site in each of the solutions on the KinExA 3000 instrument.The instrument method used for the analysis of these solutions consistedof a bead packing step in which the beads were packed into a glasscapillary, the equilibrated solutions were flowed through the beadcolumn at 0.25 ml/min for 2 min (0.5 ml) for titration B and for 40 min.(10 ml) for titration A in triplicate, and subsequently, a fluorescentlylabeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L specific) polyclonal antibody at 3.4nM (for titrations A & B) was flowed through the bead pack for 2 min at0.5 ml/min. The fluorescence emission was measured as previouslydescribed. The resulting fluorescence measurements were converted into %free mAb binding site versus total antigen concentration as describedabove and the mAb-controlled titration data were fit in a triple curveanalysis (simultaneous fitting of both the K_(D)-controlled and the twomAb-controlled titration curves) to a 1:1 equilibrium isotherm withdrift correction included. The fitted values for the K_(D) and activemAb binding site concentration from the triple titration curve analysisyielded values of 204 fM (with low and high 95% confidence limits of 83and 369 fM) and 81.7 pM, respectively (with low and high 95% confidencelimits of 67.1 and 104 pM for titration B). The K_(D), 204 fM, resultingfrom the triple curve analysis is more accurate than the fit from thesingle K_(D)-controlled titration curve since it comes from the morerigorous global analysis of three titration curves.

Human IL-1β High Resolution Binding Analysis by Kinexa (KineticExclusion Assay) for Purified mAb 5.5.1

The K_(D) of mAb 5.5.1 binding to human IL-1β was determined usingKinExA technology. Firstly, 50 mg of azlactone beads were coupled withIL-1β (˜17 μg) in 50 mM sodium carbonate buffer, pH 9.0 overnight at 4°C. Secondly, after conjugation of IL-1β to the beads, the beads werecentrifuged and washed once with blocking buffer (1 M Tris buffer, pH8.3, 10 mg/ml BSA) and centrifuged again, and then incubated in blockingbuffer for one to two hours at ˜22° C. in order to block any remainingreactive azlactone groups present on the surface of the beads. Afterblocking, the beads were transferred to a standard KinExA bead vial andplaced on the instrument.

K_(D)-controlled titration: Twelve solutions containing a nominal mAbbinding site concentration of 21.3 pM were titrated with increasingconcentrations of IL-1β in HBS-P buffer. Each solution had a totalvolume of 20 ml and was allowed to equilibrate for 1 day at ˜23° C. Thetitration solutions were prepared using volumetric glassware and theIL-1β concentrations varied from 4.97 nM to 97 fM. The instrument methodused for the analysis of these solutions consisted of a bead packingstep in which the beads were packed into a glass capillary, and theequilibrated solutions were flowed through the bead column at 0.25ml/min for 20 min (5 ml) in triplicate. Subsequently, a fluorescentlylabeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L) polyclonal antibody at 3.4 nM wasflowed through the bead pack for 2 min at 0.5 ml/min to label the freemAb binding site captured on the beads. The fluorescence emission fromthe bead pack was measured as stated previously. The resultingfluorescence measurements were converted into % free mAb binding siteversus total antigen concentration as standardly done with theaccompanying KinExA software package (version 1.0.3). The resultingK_(D)-controlled titration curve was fit with the KinExA software to a1:1 equilibrium isotherm with a drift correction factor included. Thevalue of the K_(D) that fit the data optimally was 19 pM with low andhigh 95% confidence limits at 16 pM and 23 pM, respectively.

MAb-controlled titration: The mAb-controlled titration was performed ina similar fashion to the K_(D)-controlled titration. Twelve solutionscontaining a nominal mAb binding site concentration of 511 pM weretitrated with increasing concentrations of IL-1β in HBS-P. Each solutionhad a total volume of 2 mL. The IL-1β concentrations varied from 4.97 nMto 97 fM as in the K_(D)-controlled titration. The solutions wereallowed to equilibrate for 5 hours before quantitation of free mAbbinding site in triplicate for each of the solutions on the KinExA 3000instrument. The instrument method used for the analysis of thesesolutions consisted of a bead packing step in which the beads werepacked into a glass capillary, the equilibrated solutions were flowedthrough the bead column at 0.25 ml/min for 1 min (0.25 ml), andsubsequently, a fluorescently labeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L)polyclonal antibody at 3.4 nM was flowed through the bead pack for 2 minat 0.5 ml/min. The fluorescence emission from the bead pack was measuredas described previously. The resulting fluorescence measurements wereconverted into % free mAb binding site versus total antigenconcentration as described above and the mAb-controlled titration datawere fit in a dual curve analysis (simultaneous fitting of both theK_(D)-controlled and mAb-controlled titration curves) to a 1:1equilibrium isotherm with drift correction included. The fitted valuesfor the K_(D) and active mAb binding site concentration from the dualtitration curve analysis yielded values of 20 pM (with low and high 95%confidence limits of 18 and 24 pM) and 13 pM (with low and high 95%confidence limits of 11 and 14 for the K_(D)-controlled curve),respectively. As always, the K_(D) resulting from the dual curveanalysis is more accurate than the fit from the single K_(D)-controlledtitration curve analysis.

Cynomolgus IL-1β High Resolution Binding Analysis by Kinexa (KineticExclusion Assay) for Purified mAb 9.5.2 (IGG₂ Isotype)

The K_(D) of mAb 9.5.2 binding to cynomolgus IL-1β was determined usingKinExA technology. First, 50 mg of azlactone beads were coupled withIL-1β (˜17 μg) in 50 mM sodium carbonate buffer, pH 9.0 overnight at 4°C. Second, after conjugation of IL-1β to the beads, the beads werecentrifuged and washed once with blocking buffer (1 M Tris buffer, pH8.3, 10 mg/ml BSA) and centrifuged again, and then incubated in blockingbuffer for one to two hours at ˜23° C. in order to block any remainingreactive azlactone groups present on the surface of the beads. Afterblocking, the beads were transferred to a standard KinExA bead vial andplaced on the instrument.

K_(D)controlled titration: Twelve solutions containing a nominal mAbbinding site concentration of 4.98 pM were titrated with increasingconcentrations of cynomolgus IL-1β in HBS-P buffer. Each solution had atotal volume of 25 ml and was allowed to equilibrate for 3 days at ˜23°C. The titration solutions were prepared using volumetric glassware andthe cynomolgus IL-1β concentrations varied from 12.0 nM to 234 fM. Theinstrument method used for the analysis of these solutions consisted ofa bead packing step in which the beads were packed into a glasscapillary, and the equilibrated solutions were flowed through the beadcolumn at 0.25 ml/min for 20 min (5 ml) in triplicate. Subsequently, afluorescently labeled cy-5 goat anti-human (H+L specific) polyclonalantibody at 3.4 nM was flowed through the bead pack for 2 min at 0.5ml/min to label the free mAb binding site captured on the beads. Thefluorescence emission from the bead pack was measured as before. Theresulting fluorescence measurements were converted into % free mAbbinding site versus total antigen concentration with the accompanyingKinExA software package (version 1.0.3). The resulting K_(D)-controlledtitration curve was fit with the KinExA software to a 1:1 equilibriumisotherm with a drift correction factor included. The value of the K_(D)that fit the data optimally was 14 pM with low and high 95% confidencelimits at 12 pM and 17 pM, respectively.

MAb-controlled titration: The mAb-controlled titration was performed ina similar fashion to the K_(D)-controlled titration. Twelve solutionscontaining a nominal mAb binding site concentration of 997 pM weretitrated with increasing concentrations of cynomolgus IL-1β in HBS-P.Each solution had a total volume of 1.5 mL. The cynomolgus IL-1βconcentrations varied from 98.6 nM to 1.93 pM. The solutions wereallowed to equilibrate for 2 hours before quantitation of free mAbbinding site in triplicate for each of the solutions on the KinExA 3000instrument. The instrument method used for the analysis of thesesolutions consisted of a bead packing step in which the beads werepacked into a glass capillary, the equilibrated solutions were flowedthrough the bead column at 0.25 ml/min for 1.2 min (0.300 ml) intriplicate, and subsequently, a fluorescently labeled cy-5 goatanti-human (H+L specific) polyclonal antibody at 1.4 nM was flowedthrough the bead pack for 2 min at 0.5 ml/min. The fluorescence emissionfrom the bead pack was performed as previously described. The resultingfluorescence measurements were converted into % free mAb binding siteversus total antigen concentration as described above and themAb-controlled titration data was fit in a dual curve analysis(simultaneous fitting of both the K_(D)-controlled and mAb-controlledtitration curves) to a 1:1 equilibrium isotherm with drift correctionincluded. The fitted values for the K_(D) and active mAb binding siteconcentration from the dual titration curve analysis yielded values of13 pM (with low and high 95% confidence limits of 11 and 16 pM) and 2.00nM (with low and high 95% confidence limits of 1.8 and 2.2 for themAb-controlled curve), respectively. As always, the K_(D) resulting fromthe dual curve analysis is more accurate than the fit from the singleK_(D)-controlled titration curve analysis.

Example 10 Inhibition of IL-1β Induced IL-6 Production in MRC-5 LungFibroblast Cells by 16 Anti-IL-1β Clones

The 16 Purified IL-1β antibodies were tested for potency in a MRC-5assay. In addition, IgG1λ and IgG2λ versions of the 9.5.2 IgG4λ antibodywere tested. The 9.5.2 IgG4λ antibody was class-switched in vitro toIgG1λ and IgG2λ using molecular biology techniques of ordinary skill inthe art. Briefly, the 9.5.2 hybridoma was lysed and RT-PCR was performedusing oligonucleotide primers to enable recovery of cDNAs for thecomplete VH and Vλ coding regions. The VH and Vλ cDNAs were molecularlycloned in a plasmid vector in the correct translational reading framewith genes for Cγ1 or Cγ₂ for VH and Cλ for Vλ and sequenced to confirmidentity with the original sequences. The vectors were then transfectedinto mammalian cells for recombinant production of intact IgGλ antibody.Antibody was purified from tissue culture supernatant by protein Achromatography.

96 well flat-bottom plates were seeded with 5000 MRC-5 cells per well in100 μl in MEM, 1% FBS. The plates were incubated for 18-20 hours at 37°C.+5% CO₂ to allow cell adherence. Media was removed from cells andreplaced with 100 μl of IL-1β inhibitors or isotype matched controls(final concentrations of 300 nM to 0.00003 nM, titrated 1:3), and 100 μlof IL-1β (R&D Systems) (4 pM final concentration) in MEM, 1% FBS. Theconditions of the assay were antigen limiting, e.g., the concentrationof IL-1β exceeded the KD of 9.5.2 mAb. Wells containing no IL-1β andIL-1β alone were included as control wells. Plates were furtherincubated at 37° C.+5% CO₂ for 24 hours. Supernatants were collected andassayed for human IL-6 levels by Duoset ELISA (R&D Systems). PercentIL-6 production in each well was calculated compared to IL-1β alonecontrol wells (100% production). Values were plotted as IL-1β inhibitorconcentration vs. percent inhibition of IL-6 production and aredisplayed in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and Table 17.

TABLE 17 EC₅₀ (nM) KINERET 0.077 ± 0.022 (Anakinra) 9.5.2 IgG4 0.004 ±0.000 9.5.2 IgG2 0.004 ± 0.003 9.5.2 IgG1 0.001 ± 0.000 5.5.1 0.216 ±0.015 8.18.1 0.536 ± 0.043 6.20.1 0.595 ± 0.216 6.26.4 0.591 ± 0.1696.33.1  1.06 ± 0.478 8.6.3 1.587 ± 0.386 9.11.3  2.67 ± 1.165 9.19.12.911 1.586 5.36.3 3.154 ± 0.289 6.34.1 4.082 ± 0.181 9.2.1 5.468 ±2.981 9.26.3 5.681 ± 1.558 6.7.2  6.57 ± 0.436 9.54.2 11.595 ± 0.813 9.31.3 14.29 ± 4.964

Example 11 Inhibition of IL-1β-Induced IL-8 in Human Whole Blood by9.5.2, 5.5.1 and 8.18.1

Whole blood assays were performed to evaluate the effects of the 3anti-IL-1βs selected in the MRC-5 assay on IL-1β-induced IL-8production. Titrations of anti-IL-1β antibodies and isotype matchedcontrols were prepared in RPMI-1640, 2 mM Glutamine, 1%Penicillin-streptomycin, and transferred to 96 well round-bottom plates.Human whole blood was collected in EDTA tubes, treated with 20 U/ml ofheparin, and transferred to plates containing test samples and controls.A solution of human IL-1β (R&D Systems) was prepared in RPMI-1640, 2 mMGlutamine, 1% Penicillin-streptomycin, and added to the plates at afinal concentration of 100 pM, which is antigen-limiting condition formAb 9.5.2. Wells containing no IL-1β and IL-1β alone were included ascontrol wells. Anti-IL-1β test samples and isotype matched controls wereat final concentrations of 100 nM to 0.0003 nM (titrated 1:3) within theplates. Plates were incubated for six hours at 37° C.+5% CO₂. Wholeblood cells were lysed with 0.5% Triton X-100 (Sigma) and lysates wereassayed for human IL-8 production by Duoset ELISA (R&D Systems).

Percent IL-8 production in each well was calculated compared to IL-1βalone control wells (100% production). Values were plotted as IL-1βinhibitor concentration vs. percent inhibition of IL-8 production andare shown in FIG. 3, and Table 18.

TABLE 18 EC₅₀ (nM) KINERET 0.984 ± 0.223 (anakinra) 9.5.2 IgG4 0.135 ±0.017 9.5.2 IgG2 0.069 ± 0.003 9.5.2 IgG1 0.106 ± 0.017 5.5.1 1.667 ±0.377 8.18.1 2.289 ± 0.453

Example 12 Inhibition of IL-1β Induced IL-6 Production in Mice by 9.5.2and 5.5.1

To test the ability of IL-1β antibodies to inhibit IL-1β in vivo, IL-1βantibodies were used to block the production of IL-6 induced in mice byhuman IL-1β. IL-1β engenders many acute biological actions, includingthe induction of IL-6. Eight to 10 mice per group were used. Asinitially established in time-course experiments, injection of humanIL-1β into mice caused a rapid rise in serum IL-6 levels that peaked at2 hours after injection. Based on the results of other experiments aimedto define the dose and the route of administration of IL-1β, mice wereinjected intraperitoneally with 100 ng/mouse of human IL-1β. IL-6 levelswere measured 2 hours after IL-1β administration using a commercialELISA kit (R&D System). Dose-response experiments were performed byinjecting IL-1β antibodies (0.01-75 μg/mouse, IV) at the same time asIL-1β (100 ng/mouse, IP). Control mice received 100 ng/mouse of salinebefore receiving IL-1β. The percent of IL-6 production in the treatedmice were then compared to the control group (100% production). Valueswere plotted as IL-1β inhibitor dose (pmoles/mouse) vs. percent of IL-6inhibition and are displayed in FIG. 4 and Table 19. In FIG. 4, theupward triangles are Ab 9.5.2, the downward triangles are Ab 5.5.1, andthe squares denote KINERET (anakinra).

TABLE 19 In Vivo Potency EC₅₀ (pmoles/mouse) Kineret 222 ± 37 5.5.1 51 ±1 9.5.2 IgG4  5 ± 3 9.5.2 IgG2 8 9.5.2 IgG1 5

As shown, the antibodies against IL-1β showed a dose dependentinhibition of IL-6, demonstrating that they were capable of neutralizingthe activity of IL-1β in vivo.

Example 13 Determination of Canonical Classes of Antibodies

Chothia, et al. have described antibody structure in terms of “canonicalclasses” for the hypervariable regions of each immunoglobulin chain (JMol. Biol. 1987 Aug. 20; 196(4):901-17). The atomic structures of theFab and VL fragments of a variety of immunoglobulins were analyzed todetermine the relationship between their amino acid sequences and thethree-dimensional structures of their antigen binding sites. Chothia, etal. found that there were relatively few residues that, through theirpacking, hydrogen bonding or the ability to assume unusual phi, psi oromega conformations, were primarily responsible for the main-chainconformations of the hypervariable regions. These residues were found tooccur at sites within the hypervariable regions and in the conservedβ-sheet framework. By examining sequences of immunoglobulins havingunknown structure, Chothia, et al. show that many immunoglobulins havehypervariable regions that are similar in size to one of the knownstructures and additionally contained identical residues at the sitesresponsible for the observed conformation.

Their discovery implied that these hypervariable regions haveconformations close to those in the known structures. For five of thehypervariable regions, the repertoire of conformations appeared to belimited to a relatively small number of discrete structural classes.These commonly occurring main-chain conformations of the hypervariableregions were termed “canonical structures.” Further work by Chothia, etal. (Nature 1989 Dec. 21-28; 342(6252):877-83) and others (Martin, etal. J Mol Biol. 1996 Nov. 15; 263(5):800-15) confirmed that there is asmall repertoire of main-chain conformations for at least five of thesix hypervariable regions of antibodies.

The CDRs of each antibody described above were analyzed to determinetheir canonical class. As is known, canonical classes have only beenassigned for CDR1 and CDR2 of the antibody heavy chain, along with CDR1,CDR2 and CDR3 of the antibody light chain. The table below (Table 20)summarizes the results of the analysis. The Canonical Class data is inthe form of *HCDR1-HCDR2-LCDR1-LCDR2-LCDR3, wherein “HCDR” refers to theheavy chain CDR and “LCDR” refers to the light chain CDR. Thus, forexample, a canonical class of 1-3-2-1-5 refers to an antibody that has aHCDR1 that falls into canonical class 1, a HCDR2 that falls intocanonical class 3, a LCDR1 that falls into canonical class 2, a LCDR2that falls into canonical class 1, and a LCDR3 that falls into canonicalclass 5.

Assignments were made to a particular canonical class where there was70% or greater identity of the amino acids in the antibody with theamino acids defined for each canonical class. The amino acids definedfor each antibody can be found, for example, in the articles by Chothia,et al. referred to above. Table 20 and Table 21 report the canonicalclass data for each of the IL-1β antibodies. Where there was less than70% identity, the canonical class assignment is marked with an asterisk(“*”) to indicate that the best estimate of the proper canonical classwas made, based on the length of each CDR and the totality of the data.Where there was no matching canonical class with the same CDR length,the canonical class assignment is marked with a letter s and a number,such as “s9”, meaning the CDR is of size 9. Canonical classes noted with9F, 10A, and 10B represent new structure examples of size 9, 10, and 10respectively. There is no established canonical class number for thesestructure examples yet.

TABLE 20 Antibody (sorted) H1-H2-L1-L2-L3 H3length 4_20_1 1-3-2-1-1 95_36_1 3-s18-4-1-1 16 5_5_1 1-3-6-1-10B* 10 6_20_1 1-2-9-1-9F* 9 6_26_13-1-9*-1-9F 14 6_33_1 1-3-6-1-10B* 10 6_34_1 1-2-9-1-9F* 9 6_7_11-2-9-1-9F* 9 8_18_1 3-1-9-1-10A* 10 8_50_1 1-1-9-1-5* 13 8_59_11-3-8*-1-1 10 8_6_1 3-1-9-1-10A* 10 9_11_1 1-3-6-1-10B* 10 9_19_11-3-6-1-10B 12 9_2_1 1-3-6-1-10B 12 9_26_1 1-3-6-1-10B 12 9_31_11-3-9-1-5* 13 9_5_2 1-4-9-1-s9 17 9_54_1 1-3-9-1-5* 17

TABLE 21 H1-H2-L1-L2-L3 Antibody (sorted) H3length 8_50_1 1-1-9-1-5* 136_20_1 1-2-9-1-9F* 9 6_34_1 1-2-9-1-9F* 9 6_7_1 1-2-9-1-9F* 9 4_20_11-3-2-1-1 9 9_19_1 1-3-6-1-10B 12 9_2_1 1-3-6-1-10B 12 9_26_11-3-6-1-10B 12 5_5_1 1-3-6-1-10B* 10 6_33_1 1-3-6-1-10B* 10 9_11_11-3-6-1-10B* 10 8_59_1 1-3-8*-1-1 10 9_54_1 1-3-9-1-5* 17 9_31_11-3-9-1-5* 13 9_5_2 1-4-9-1-s9 17 6_26_1 3-1-9*-1-9F 14 8_18_13-1-9-1-10A* 10 8_6_1 3-1-9-1-10A* 10 5_36_1 3-s18-4-1-1 16

One candidate, 9.5.2, has canonical class 1-4-9-1-s9, and there is noother antibody sharing the same structure. The most commonly seenstructure is 1-3-6-1-10B(*); 6 out of 21 sequences had this combination.The L3 canonical class here is 10B, meaning unclassified cluster exampleB for CDR length 10.

Table 22 is an analysis of the number of antibodies per class. Thenumber of antibodies having the particular canonical class designated inthe left column is shown in the right column.

TABLE 22 H1-H2-L1-L2-L3 Count 1-1-9-1-5* 1 1-2-9-1-9F* 3 1-3-2-1-1 11-3-6-1-10B 3 1-3-6-1-10B* 3 1-3-8*-1-1 1 1-3-9-1-5* 2 1-4-9-1-s9 13-1-9*-1-9F 1 3-1-9-1-10A* 2 3-s18-4-1-1 1 Total 19

Example 14 A High Affinity Fully Human IL-1β Monoclonal Antibody

This example compares the activity of antibodies described herein toanakinra, a known interleukin-1 receptor antagonist.

Characterization of the antibody from clone 9.5.2 revealed that theantibody displayed a high-affinity (K_(D)=204 fM for IgG2 and 181 fM forIgG4) to IL-1β. 9.5.2 was an IgG4 mAb that was class switched to IgG2and IgG1 isotypes. The IL-1β epitope for this antibody resides in theN-terminal residues 1-34 of the IL-1β molecules. Arg4 was identified asa key residue for this antibody.

9.5.2 potently neutralized IL-1β in vitro as demonstrated through theinhibition of IL-1β-induced IL-6 production by MRC-5 cells and IL-8production by whole blood (protocols as shown in the previous examplesand results are shown in Table 23 below). In mice, 9.5.2 inhibitedIL-1β-induced IL-6 production, as shown in Table 23. 9.5.2 displayed invitro and in vivo potencies superior to anakinra (Table 23). Because theconcentration of IL-1β used in the in vitro assays was antigen limiting([IL-1β]>K_(D)), the actual potency can be higher. This exampledemonstrates that blockade of IL-1β with a mAb is a valid approach tothe neutralization of IL-1 function and thus represents atherapeutically valid approach to inflammatory diseases.

TABLE 23 In vivo Potency (EC₅₀ In vitro Potency (EC₅₀ pM) pmoles/mouse)IL-6 (MRC-5) IL-8 (Whole Blood) IL-6 9.5.2 IgG4 4 ± 0 135 ± 17  5 ± 39.5.2 IgG2 4 ± 3 69 ± 3 8 9.5.2 IgG1 1 ± 0 106 ± 17 5 Anakinra 77 ± 22 984 ± 223 222 ± 37

Example 15 Epitope Determination

Nineteen fully-human antibodies from XenoMouse mice, 9.5.2, 6.33.1,9.54.2, 6.26.4, 8.50.1, 8.59.2, 9.31.1, 9.2.1, 9.11.3, 5.5.1, 5.36.3,8.18.1, 8.6.3, 6.20.1, 4.20.2, 6.7.2, 6.34.1, 9.19.1, 9.26.3, werecharacterized to determine their binding epitopes on IL-1β. It wasdiscovered that none of the antibodies bound to IL-1β when the IL-1β wasbound to a solid PVDF membrane support. From this, it was concluded thatthe mAbs bind IL-1β in solution only via a conformational epitope. Theepitope to which an antibody binds can be determined through a varietyof ways. For example, SELDI mass spectroscopy was used to determine theepitopes for mAb 9.5.2, mAb 5.5.1 and mAb 8.59.2.

Protein A covalently bound to a PS20 Protein chip array (Ciphergen,Inc.) was used to capture mAbs 9.5.2 and 5.5.1. The mAbs were incubatedwith purified HIS-tagged mature IL-1β, and the antibody-antigen complexthen was digested to completion with a high concentration of Asp-N. Themass of the digestion product of IL-1β retained on the chip via bindingto the mAb was determined by SELDI.

For all three antibodies, 9.5.2, 5.5.1 and 8.59.2, the SELDI massspectroscopy results demonstrated the presence of a 4256 D fragmentafter on-chip proteolytic digestion of the mAb-IL-1β complex. Thiscorresponded to the mass of a HIS-tag plus amino acids 1-34 of IL-1β.This demonstrates that each of these three antibodies bound to theepitope 1-34 of IL-1β. Accordingly, some embodiments of the inventionrelate to antibodies that specifically bind to amino acids 1-34 ofIL-1β.

Example 16 Residue Interaction Determination

In addition to determining the general epitope that an antibody bindsto, particular residues in IL-1β that were involved in forming aninteraction with IL-1 R type 1 were determined. As will be appreciatedby one of skill in the art, the ability to target residues or epitopeson IL-1β that interact with the receptor can allow for the formation orselection of antibodies that bind to IL-1β at these epitopes or residuesand thus perform with superior neutralizing ability.

A structural model of IL-1β interacting with IL-1R type 1 was obtainedand is displayed in FIG. 5. Important residues for IL-1β binding andsignaling via IL-1R type I include R4, K16, H30, Q48, E51, K92, K103,and E105. Arg4 has previously been shown to be part of the receptortrigger site on IL-1β along with K92, K93, and K94.

To further examine how the antibody binds to IL-1β, site-directedmutants were made in key residues for function, e.g., R4, R11, and H30,within the amino terminal 1-34 amino acids of IL-1β, which contains themAbs' epitopes, as shown in Example 15 above. Also mutated were K92,K94, K103 and E105. Abrogation of binding to a mutant form of IL-1β(abrogation indicated via a “X” in Table 24) identifies that residue asimportant in the epitope for binding. A diversity of residues andcombinations thereof for binding of neutralizing antibodies againstIL-1β is identified in Table 24. A structural model of the IL-1β witheach of the two epitopes from mAb 9.5.2 and mAb 5.5.1 was generatedthrough the use of these site directed mutants. The resulting model,demonstrating distinct but overlapping epitopes, is shown in FIG. 6. TheH30A mutant retained binding to both of the antibodies, suggesting thatit was not essential for mAb neutralizing activity. For mAb 5.5.1, boththe R4A and the R11A mutants abrogated binding. In contrast, for mAb9.5.2, only the R4A mutant prevented binding. Thus, 9.5.2 and 5.5.1 havedifferent, partially overlapping epitopes, while sharing the R4 residue.This suggests that R4 is likely relevant as a neutralizing residue inthe mAbs' epitopes.

TABLE 24 ANTIBODY R4 R11 H30 K92 K94 K103 E105 6.20.1 X X X X 8.6.3 X X9.54.2 X X 6.7.2 X X X X 5.36.3 X X X X 6.34.1 X X X X 8.18.1 X X 6.26.4X 9.5.2 X 8.50.1 X 9.19.1 9.26.3 9.31.1 X 9.2.1 X 9.11.3 X 6.33.1 X8.59.2 X 4.20.2 X X 5.5.1 X X

Thus, antigens concentrating on R4 can be useful in developing furtherantibodies with desirable characteristics. Similarly, antigensconcentrating on R11 can be useful in developing further antibodies withdesirable characteristics. In turn, IL-1β antibodies that bind via R4,R11, H30, K103 or E105, key residues alone or in combination, can haveuseful neutralizing characteristics. In some embodiments, antibodiesthat bind to these various residues (e.g., denoted in Table 24), eitherindividually or in various combinations, are contemplated.

Example 17 Anti-IL-1β Induced MPO Production in Lungs of BALB/C Mice

Anti-IL-1 beta antibody 9.5.2 was tested for its ability to inhibitIL-1β induced myeloperoxidase (MPO) production as an indirectmeasurement of neutrophil infiltration in the lungs of BALB/C mice.

Briefly, 13 week old male BALB/C mice were administered 10 mg/kg of9.5.2 antibody or isotype control intravenously (IV) on day −1; or 5mg/kg IV on day −1 and 5 mg/kg intranasally (IN) on day 0. Approximately24 hours post day −1 administration and 2 hrs post day 0 administration,mice received 1 μg of recombinant human IL-1β intranasally in PBS.Additional groups of mice receiving IL-1β alone and PBS alone wereincluded as controls. After 3 hours, the right lung from each mouse wascollected and weighed. Samples were processed and tested for theactivity of MPO as described per Bai et al. (Immunology 2005 February114(2):246-254). Average MPO units per gram of lung were calculated andplotted for each group as shown in FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7, antibody 9.5.2 provided a substantial in vivoreduction in MPO activity in comparison to the control.

Example 18 Structural Analysis of IL-1β Antibodies

The variable heavy chains and the variable light chains of theantibodies were sequenced to determine their DNA sequences. The completesequence information for the anti-IL-1β antibodies is provided in thesequence listing with nucleotide and amino acid sequences for each gammaand kappa chain combination. The variable heavy sequences were analyzedto determine the VH family, the D-region sequence and the J-regionsequence. The sequences were then translated to determine the primaryamino acid sequence and compared to the germline VH, D and J-regionsequences to assess somatic hypermutations.

Table 25 is a table comparing the antibody heavy chain regions to theircognate germ line heavy chain region. Table 26 is a table comparing theantibody kappa light chain regions to their cognate germ line lightchain region.

The variable (V) regions of immunoglobulin chains are encoded bymultiple germ line DNA segments, which are joined into functionalvariable regions (V_(H)DJ_(H) or V_(K)J_(K)) during B-cell ontogeny. Themolecular and genetic diversity of the antibody response to IL-1β wasstudied in detail. These assays revealed several points specific toanti-IL-1β antibodies.

TABLE 25 Heavy Chain Analysis SEQ Chain ID Name NO: V D J FR1 CDR1 FR2CDR2 FR3 CDR3 FR4 78 Germline QVQLVQSGAEVKK GYTFT WVRQAPG WISAYNGNTRVTMTTDTSTSTAYME YFDY WGQGTLV PGASVKVSCKAS SYGIS QGLEWMG NYAQKLQGLRSLRSDDTAVYYCAR TVSS 6.20.1 14 VH1-18 N.A. JH4B QVQLVQSGAEVKK GYTLTWVRQAPG WISAYSGKT RVIMTTDTSTNVVYME DGPRGYF WGQGTLV PGASVKVSCKAS SYGISQGLEWMG NYEQKLQG LRSLRSDDTAVYYCAR DF TVSS 6.34.1 26 ″ ″ ″ QVQLVQSGAEVKKAYTFT WVRQAPG WISGYSGNT RVIMTADTSTNVVYME DGPRGYF WGQGTLV PGASVKVSCKASSYGIN QGLEWMG NYAQKLQD LRSLRSDDTAVYYCAR DY TVSS 6.7.1 30 ″ ″ ″QVQLVQSGAEVKK AYTLT WVRQAPG WISAYSGKT RVTMTTDTSTSVVYME DGPRGYF WGQGTLVPGASVKVSCKAS SYGIN QGLEWMG NYEQKLQG LRSLRSDDTAVYYCAR DF TVSS 79 GermlineQVQLVESGGGLVK GFTFS WIRQAPG YISSSGSTI RFTISRDNAKNSLYLQ YSGWYFD WGRGTLVPGGSLRLSCAAS DYYMS KGLEWVS YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCA L TVSS 9.31.1 66VH3-11 D1-26 JH2 QVQLVESGGGLVK GFTFS WIRQAPG YIRSSGSTI RFTISRDNAKNSLYLQTPYSGRY WGRGTLV PGGSLRLSCAAS DYYMS KGLEWVS YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCARHWYFDL TVSS 80 Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNKRFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ FDY WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKGMNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR TVSS 4.20.1  2 VH3-33 N.A. JH4B QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFSWVRQAPG VIWYDGNNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ DSRSGPF WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS NYGMNKGLEWVA SEADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR DY TVSS 81 Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQGFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ YYYGMDV WGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCAASSYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYC TVSS 9.26.1 58 VH3-33 N.A. JH6BQVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFN WVRQAPG VIWYDGGNK RFAISRDNSKNTLYLQ VTKLNYY WGQGTTVPGRSLRLSCAAS NYGMH KGLECVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCTA YGMDV TVSS 82Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ YDILTGYWGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR YYYGMDVTVSS 9.54.1 70 VH3-33 D3-9 JH6B QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNKRFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ DPNYDIL WGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCAAS SFGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKGMNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR TGYYYYG TVSS MDV 83 Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFSWVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ VTYYYGM WGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMHKGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYC DV TVSS 9.19.1 54 VH3-33 D4-17 JH6BQVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFN WVRQAPG VIWYDGGNK RFAISRDNSKNTLYLQ VTKLNYY WGQRTTVPGRSLRLSCAAS NYGMH KGLECVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCTA YGMDV TVSS 9.2.1 62″ ″ ″ QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFN WVRQAPG VIWYDGGNK RFAISRDNSKNTLYLQ VTTLYYYWGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCAAS NYGMH KGLECVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCTA YGMDV TVSS84 Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQSSSWYFD WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR YTVSS 5.5.1 10 VH3-33 D6-13 JH4B QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGDNKRFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ ERSSSWY WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVQGMNSLRPEDTAVYYCAR FDY TVSS 9.11.1 50 ″ ″ ″ QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPGVIWYDGNNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ ERSSSWY WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS VYGMH KGLEWVAYYVDSVKG LNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR FDY TVSS 85 Germline QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFSWVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ SSGWFDY WGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS SYGMHKGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR TVSS 6.33.1 22 VH3-33 D6-19 JH4BQVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNK RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ EKSSGWF WGQGTLVPGRSLRLSCAAS VYGMH KGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR FDY TVSS 8.59.1 42″ ″ ″ QVQLVESGGGVVQ GFTFS WVRQAPG VIWYDGSNE RFTISRDNSKNTLYLQ EKSSGWYWGQGTLV PGRSLRLSCAAS IYGIH KGLEWVA YYADSVKG MNSLRAEDTAVYYCAR FDY TVSS 86Germline EVQLVESGGGLVQ GFTFG WFRQAPG FIRSKAYGG RFTISRDDSKSIAYLQ EYSSSSYWGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCTAS DYAMS KGLEWVG TTEYAASVK MNSLKTEDTAVYYCTR YYGMDVTVSS G 9.5.2 74 VH3-49 D6-6 JH6B EVQLVESGGGLVK GFTFG WFRQAPG FIRGKAYGGRFTISRDDSKSIAYLQ EVEYCRS WGQGTTV PGRSLRLSCTGS DYALN MGLEWVG TTEYAASVKMNSLKTEDTAVYYCNR SENYCYG TVSS G MDV 87 Germline QLQLQESGPGLVK GGSISWIRQPPG SIYYSGSTY RVTISVDTSKNQFSLK EYSSSSY WGQGTTV PSETLSLTCTVS SSSYYKGLEWIG YNPSLKS LSSVTAADTAVYYCA GMDV TVSS WG 6.26.1 18 VH4-39 D6-6 JH6BQLQLQESGPGLVK GGSIS WIRQPPG NIYYSGSTH RVTISVDTSKNQFSLK GREYISS WGQGTTVPSETLSLTCTVS RSSYY KGLEWMG YNPSLKS LSSVTAADTAVFYCAK SGYGMDV TVSS WG 88Germline QVQLQESGPGLVK GGSIS WIRQPAG RIYTSGSTN RVTMSVDTSKNQFSLK YSSWYFDWGRGTLV PSETLSLTCTVS SYYWS KGLEWIG YNPSLKS LSSVTAADTAVYYCAR L TVSS8.50.1 38 VH4-4 D6-13 JH2 QVQLQESGPGLVK GGSIS WIRQPAG RFYNSGRTNRITMSVDTSKNQFSLK DMYSGRG WGRGTLV PSETLSLTCTVS SDYWS KGLEWIG YRPSLKSLSSVTAADTAVYYCAR NWYFDL TVSS 89 Germline QVQLQESGPGLVK GGSVS WIRQPPGYIYYSGSTN RVTISVDTSKNQFSLK YYGMDV WGQGTTV PSETLSLTCTVS SGGYY KGLEWIGYNPSLKS LSSVTAADTAVYYCAR TVSS WS 8.18.1 34 VH4-61 N.A. JH6BQVQLQESGPGLVK GGSVS WIRQPPG YFYYSGSPN RIAISVDTSKNQFSLR DPMHYYG WGQGTTVPSETLSLTCTVS SGGYY KGLEWIG YNPSLKR LSSVTAADTAVYYCAR MDV TVSS WS 8.6.1 46″ ″ ″ QVQLQESGPGLVK GGSVS WVRQPPG CFYFSESTN RVTISVDTSKNQFSLK DPMHYYGWGQGTTV PSETLSLTCTVS SGGYY KGLEWIG YNPSLKS LSSVTAADTAVYYCAR MDV TVSS WS90 Germline QVQLQQSGPGLVK GDSVS WIRQSPS RTYYRSKWY RITINPDTSKNQFSLQQQLVYYY WGQGTTV PSQTLSLTCAIS SNSAA RGLEWLG NDYAVSVKS LNSVTPEDTAVYYCARYYGMDV TVSS WN 5.36.1  6 VH6-1 D6-13 JH6B QVQLQQSGPGLVK GGSVS WIRQSPSRTYYRSKWY RITTNPDTSKNQFSLQ EEQQLVR WGQGTTV PSQTLSLTCAIS SGGYY RGLEWLGNDYAVSVKS LNSVTPEDTAVYYCAR YYYYYGM TVSS WS DV

TABLE 26 Light Chain Analysis SEQ Chain ID Name NO: V J FR1 CDR1 FR2CDR2 FR3 CDR3 FR4  91 Germline DIVMTQTPLSLSV KSSQSLLHSDG WYLQKPGQEVSNRFS GVPDRFSGSGSGTDFT MQSIQLP# FGQGTR TPGQPASISC KTYLY PPQLLIYLKISRVEAEDVGVYYC T LEIK 5.36.1   8 A2 JK5 DIVMTQTPLSLSV KSSQSLLHSDGWYLQRPGQ EASYRFS GVPDRFSGSGSGTDFT MQSIQLPR FGQGTR TPGQPASISC RTYLYPPQLLIY LKISRVEAEDVGIYYC T LEIK  92 Germline EIVLTQSPDFQSV RASQSIGSSLHWYQQKPDQ YASQSFS GVPSRFSGSGSGTDFT HQSSSLPF FGPGTK TPKEKVTITC SPKLLIKLTINSLEAEDAATYYC T VDIK 4.20.1   4 A26 JK3 EIVLTQSPDFQSV RASQSIGSSLHWYQQKPDQ FASQSFS GVPSRISGSGSGTDFT HQSSSLPF FGPGTK TPKEKVTITC SPKLLIKLTINSLEAEDAATYYC T VDIK  93 Germline EIVLTQSPGTLSL RASQSVSSSYL WYQQKPGQGASSRAT GIPDRFSGSGSGTDFT QQYGSS## FGQGTK SPGERATLSC A APRLLIYLTISRLEPEDFAVYYC T VEIK 8.59.1  44 A27 JK1 EIVLTQSPGTLSL RASQSISSSCLCYQQKPGQ GASSWAT GIPDRFSGSRSGTDFT QQYGSSPP FGQGTK SPGERATLSC A TPRLLIYLSISRLEPDDFAVCYC T VEIK  94 Germline QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGGYN WYQQHPGKEVSNRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS SSYTSS## FGGGTK PGQSITISC YVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC #V LTVL 9.19.1  56 V1-4 JL2 QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGGYNWYQQHPGK EVSNRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS SSYTSSSI FGGGTK PGQSITISC YVS APKFMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC LV LTVL 9.26.1  60 ″ ″ QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGGYNWYQQHPGK EVSNRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS SSYTSSSI FGGGTK PGQSITISC YVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC LV LTVL 9.2.1  64 ″ ″ QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGGYNWYQQHPGK EVSNRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS SSYTSSSI FGGGTK PGQSITISC YVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC LV LTVL  95 Germline QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGSYN WYQQHPGKEGSKRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS CSYAGSS# FGGGTK PGQSITISC LVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC #V LTVL 6.33.1  24 V1-7 JL2 QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGSYNWYQQHPGK EVSKRPS GISNRESGSKSGNTAS CSYAGNSI FGGGTK PGQSITISC LVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC WV LTVL  96 Germline QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGSYN WYQQHPGKEGSKRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS CSYAGSST FGGGTK PGQSITISC LVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC WV LTVL 5.5.1  12 V1-7 JL3 QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGSYNWYQQHPGK EVSKRPS GISNRFSGSKSGNTAS CSYAGSST FGGGTK PGQSITISC LVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC WV LTVL 9.11.1  52 ″ ″ QSALTQPASVSGS TGTSSDVGSYNWYQQHPGK EVSKRPS GVSNRFSGSKSGNTAS CSYAGNSN FGGGTK SGQSITISC LVS APKLMIYLTISGLQAEDEADYYC WV LTVL  97 Germline SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKYAC WYQQKPGQQDSKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTV FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC V LTVL 6.20.1  16 V2-1 JL2 SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKYACWYQQKPGQ QDRKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTV FGGGTK PGQTASFTC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC V LTVL 6.26.1  20 ″ ″ SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGNKYVCWYQQKPGQ QDSRRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDTSTV FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIFLTISGTQAMDEADYYC I LTVL 6.34.1  28 ″ ″ SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKYACWYQQKPGQ QDSKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTV FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC V LTVL 6.7.1  32 ″ ″ SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKYAC WYQQKPGQQDSKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTV FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC V LTVL 8.18.1  36 ″ ″ SSELTQPPSVSVF SGDKLGDKFACWYQQKPGQ RDNKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTY FGGGTK PGQTANFTC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC VV LTVL 8.6.1  48 ″ ″ SFELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKFACWYQQKPGQ QDTKRPS GIPERISGSNSGNTAT QAWDSSTY FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC VV LTVL 9.5.2  76 ″ ″ SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDKLGDKFACWYQQKPGQ QDTKRPS GIPERFSGSNSGNTAT QAWDSNTV FGGGTK PGQTASITC SPVLVIYLTISGTQAMDEADYYC V LTVL  98 Germline SSELTQDPAVSVA QGDSLRSYYAS WYQQKPGQGKNNRPS GIPDRFSGSSSGNTAS NSRDSSGN FGGGTK LGQTVPITC APVLVIYLTITGAQAEDEADYYC HLV LTVL 9.54.1  72 V2-13 JL2 SSELTQDPAVSVA QGDILRTYYASWYQQKPGQ GKNDRPS GIPDRFSGSSSGNTAS DSRDNTVT FGGGTK LGQTVRITC APVLVIYLTITGAQAEDEADYYC HLV LTVL  99 Germline SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDALPKKYAYWYQQKSGQ EDSKRPS GIPERFSGSSSGTMAT YSTDSSGN FGGGTK PGQTARITC APVLVIYLTISGAQVEDEADYYC HRV LTVL 8.50.1  40 V2-7 JL2 SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDALPKKYAYWYQQKSGQ EDSKRPS GIPERFSGSSSGTMAT YSTDSSDN FGGGTK PGQTARITC APVLVIYLTISGAQVEDEADYYC HRV LTVL 100 Germline SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDALPKKYAYWYQQKSGQ EDSKRPS GIPERFSGSSSGTMAT YSTDSSGN FGGGTK PGQTARITC APVLVIYLTISGAQVEDEADYYC HRV LTVL 9.31.1  68 V2-7 JL3 SYELTQPPSVSVS SGDALPIKYAYWYQHKSGQ EDSKRPS GIPERFSGSSSGTMAT YSTDSSGN FGGGTK PGQTARITC APVLVIYLTISGAQVEDEADYYC HRV LTVL

Example 19 Uses of IL-1β Antibodies for the Treatment of IL-1β RelatedDisorders

A human patient exhibiting an IL-1β related disorder is injected onetime weekly with an effective amount of IL-1β antibody, such as 9.5.2.At periodic times during the treatment, the patient is monitored todetermine whether the symptoms of the IL-1β related disorder hassubsided. Following treatment, it is found that patients undergoingtreatment with the IL-1β antibody have reduced symptoms relating toIL-1β related disorders, in comparison to patients that are not treated.

Example 20 Uses of IL-1β Antibodies for the Treatment of Arthritis

A human patient exhibiting symptoms of arthritis is injected weekly withan effective amount of IL-1β antibody, such as 9.5.2. At periodic timesduring the treatment, the human patient is monitored to determinewhether the arthritis condition has subsided. Following treatment, it isfound that the patient receiving the treatment with the IL-1β antibodieshas reduced symptoms in comparison to arthritis patients not receivingthe treatment.

Example 21 Uses of IL-1β Antibodies for the Prevention of Osteoporosis

A human patient exhibiting symptoms of osteoporosis is injected weeklywith an effective amount of IL-1β antibody, such as 9.5.2. At periodictimes during the treatment, the human patient is monitored to determinewhether the osteoporosis condition has subsided. Following treatment, itis found that the patient receiving the treatment with the IL-1βantibodies has reduced symptoms in comparison to osteoporosis patientsnot receiving the treatment.

Example 22 Use of IL-1β Antibodies as a Diagnostic Agent

Detection of IL-1β Antigen in a Sample

An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the detection of IL-1βantigen in a sample can used to diagnose patients exhibiting high levelsof IL-1β production. In the assay, wells of a microtiter plate, such asa 96-well microtiter plate or a 384-well microtiter plate, are adsorbedfor several hours with a first fully human monoclonal antibody directedagainst IL-1β. The immobilized antibody serves as a capture antibody forany of the antigen that may be present in a test sample. The wells arerinsed and treated with a blocking agent such as milk protein or albuminto prevent nonspecific adsorption of the analyte.

Subsequently the wells are treated with a test sample suspected ofcontaining the antigen, or with a solution containing a standard amountof the antigen. Such a sample may be, for example, a serum sample from asubject suspected of having levels of circulating antigen considered tobe diagnostic of a pathology.

After rinsing away the test sample or standard, the wells are treatedwith a second fully human monoclonal IL-1β antibody that is labeled byconjugation with biotin. A monoclonal or mouse or other species origincan also be used. The labeled IL-1β antibody serves as a detectingantibody. After rinsing away excess second antibody, the wells aretreated with avidin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and asuitable chromogenic substrate. The concentration of the antigen in thetest samples is determined by comparison with a standard curve developedfrom the standard samples.

This ELISA assay provides a highly specific and very sensitive assay forthe detection of the IL-1β antigen in a test sample.

Determination of IL-1β Antigen Concentration in Patients

A sandwich ELISA can quantify IL-1β levels in human serum. Two fullyhuman monoclonal IL-1β antibodies from the sandwich ELISA, recognizedifferent epitopes on the IL-1β molecule. Alternatively, monoclonalantibodies of mouse or other species origin may be used. The ELISA isperformed as follows: 50 μL of capture IL-1β antibody in coating buffer(0.1 M NaHCO₃, pH 9.6) at a concentration of 2 μg/mL is coated on ELISAplates (Fisher). After incubation at 4° C. overnight, the plates aretreated with 200 μL of blocking buffer (0.5% BSA, 0.1% Tween 20, 0.01%Thimerosal in PBS) for 1 hour at 25° C. The plates are washed (3×) using0.05% Tween 20 in PBS (washing buffer, WB). Normal or patient sera(Clinomics, Bioreclaimation) are diluted in blocking buffer containing50% human serum. The plates are incubated with serum samples overnightat 4° C., washed with WB, and then incubated with 100 μL/well ofbiotinylated detection IL-1β antibody for 1 hour at 25° C. Afterwashing, the plates are incubated with HRP-Streptavidin for 15 minutes,washed as before, and then treated with 100 μL/well ofo-phenylenediamine in H₂O₂ (Sigma developing solution) for colorgeneration. The reaction is stopped with 50 μL/well of H₂SO₄ (2M) andanalyzed using an ELISA plate reader at 492 nm. Concentration of IL-1βantigen in serum samples is calculated by comparison to dilutions ofpurified IL-1β antigen using a four parameter curve fitting program.

Incorporation by Reference

All references cited herein, including patents, patent applications,papers, text books, and the like, and the references cited therein, tothe extent that they are not already, are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

EQUIVALENTS

The foregoing written specification is considered to be sufficient toenable one skilled in the art to practice the invention. The foregoingdescription and examples detail certain preferred embodiments of theinvention and describe the best mode contemplated by the inventors. Itwill be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoingmay appear in text, the invention may be practiced in many ways and theinvention should be construed in accordance with the appended claims andany equivalents thereof.

1. A monoclonal antibody comprising a light chain polypeptide having theamino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 12. 2. A monoclonal antibodycomprising a heavy chain polypeptide having the amino acid sequence ofSEQ ID NO:
 10. 3. A targeted binding agent that neutralizesinterleukin-1β (IL-1β) activity, wherein the targeted binding agentcomprises: a heavy chain polypeptide comprising CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3 ofSEQ ID NO: 10; and a light chain polypeptide comprising CDR1, CDR2, andCDR3 of SEQ ID NO:
 12. 4. The targeted binding agent of claim 3 whereinsaid targeted binding agent is an antibody comprising a light chainpolypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12 and a heavychain polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 10. 5.The targeted binding agent of claim 3, wherein said targeted bindingagent binds to and neutralizes IL-1β with a KD of 50 pM or less.
 6. Thetargeted binding agent of claim 3, said targeted binding agent comprisesan antibody having an IgG2 isotype.
 7. The targeted binding agent ofclaim 3, wherein said targeted binding agent binds to amino acids 1-34of the human IL-1β.
 8. The targeted binding agent of claim 3 whereinsaid targeted binding agent binds to IL-1 beta via an arginine at thefourth amino acid of human IL-1 beta.
 9. The targeted binding agent of 3wherein said targeted binding agent binds to IL-1 beta via an arginineat the eleventh amino acid of human IL-1 beta.
 10. A method ofeffectively treating an animal suffering from an IL-1β related disorder,the method comprising: selecting an animal in need of treatment for anIL-1β related disorder; and administering to said animal atherapeutically effective dose of the targeted binding agent of claim 3.11. The method of claim 10 wherein the treatable IL-1β related disorderis selected from the group consisting of inflammatory disorders,arthritis, cachexia and chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis,atherosclerosis, pain related disorders, congestive heart failure,leukemias, multiple myelomas, tumor growth and metastatic spreading. 12.The method of claim 10, wherein said targeted binding agent is aneutralizing fully human monoclonal antibody that binds to amino acids1-34 of the human IL-1β.